As an illustration of the brutalisation argument (which it may also be noted was the underlying basis of early animal protection laws, cf. Module 2.10.), reference is sometimes made to a series of prints by William Hogarth ("The Four Stages of Cruelty", 1751). The pictures tell the story of Tom Nero. In the midst of a general atmosphere of animal cruelty Nero evolves from a tormentor of animals to a murderer. He is ultimately executed and his corpse is released for crude, amateurish anatomical examinations.

A reconstruction of Kant's animal ethics, however, suggests that the Kantian approach encompasses more than the thesis that through animal cruelty man indirectly endangers his fellow man.