It includes, for instance, providing a refuge for those without any place of safety, giving protection to those without any protector, and being with those who have no other companion.
In particular, it refers to such actions as forbidding hunting and fishing whenever you have the power to do so, buying back animals on the way to slaughter, and saving the lives of dying fish, worms, flies, and other creatures.
The Buddha taught that, of all relative good actions, saving lives is the most beneficial.
—Patrul Rinpoche