Compassionate creature watching

This might sound like a strange question because I know a lot of what you look at doesn’t necessarily have brains and nervous systems, but I read tardigrades can be taught to curl up in a ball. So being vegan and an animal lover, I don’t want to start this journey unless I know I can do it being respectful and compassionate to the creatures.

Is there a way to maintain an environment, in say a jar, where these things can live happily? And can you look at something and then put it back?

My plan is to start with an inverted microscope so I can view things in a Petri dish, but if I use slides with cover slips does that squish the creatures?

Realistically I understand that if there are organisms in a puddle and the puddle dries up they die, but I do have a philosophical problem of causing a death of a sentient being. So maybe the questions comes down to sentience and that what you mostly look at does not have the ability to feel pain or make decisions.

This might just not be the hobby for me. Or I might be overthinking in a haze of ADHD!