Lama Zopa Rinpoche said, "It [animal liberation] is a way of involving other people in doing something to generate some compassion and to collect merit. It's a social gathering, but liberating the animals enables everyone to sincerely do an action from their heart for others. The animals are carried around the alter as many times as possible at the very beginning with chanting of prayers and mantras. If the circumambulations are done immediately, even if some of the animal died during the explanation or prayers, they have already purified negative karma and created many causes of enlightenment, liberation from samsara and good rebirth. One circumambulation of holy objects can create the cause to receive hundreds or thousands of good rebirths. This is because karma is expendable - more expendable then external phenomena. One small seed can produce a large tree with tens of thousands of branches, flowers and seeds, but karma increases even more then this. Therefore, if the circumambulations have been done, you don't need to feel much regret if some of the animals died while you are reciting the mantras, blessing the water or doing the prayers.

One of the best ways to benefit and liberate the animals is to bless water with powerful mantras, then purify animals by sprinkling or pouring the water on them. As Buddha explained, mantras contain so much power that even if you don't have any realisation of bodhicitta, emptiness and so forth, the mantras alone are extremely beneficial. If we do that, we liberate them from the suffering of the three lower realms. They get chance to purify their negative karma, if they purify their negative karma, they won't have to reincarnate again and again in the lower realms."