 In common with other prints by Hogarth, such as "Beer Street" and "Gin Lane", "The Four Stages of Cruelty" was issued as a warning against immoral behaviour, showing the easy path from childish thug to convicted criminal.His aim was to correct "that barbarous treatment of animals, the very sight of which renders the streets of our metropolis so distressing to every feeling mind".Hogarth loved animals, picturing himself with his pug in a self-portrait, and marking the graves of his dogs and birds at his home in Chiswick.