There is a tale about a kind but not wise man who was chopping his dog's tail piece by piece to ease the dog's pain.

Is there an idiom for this in English? Closest translation I can think of is "to refuse to bite the bullet".

upd: The moral of this tale is that half-measures will cost more than single decisive move. The phrase from the title can be used to criticize half-measures and to suggest to be more decisive.