To clarify, I think seeing horrible things done by ‘cute’ animals has the power to really reinforce how terrible an action can be. This works especially well for racism, where you’re completely removing human races from the equation… it’s shocking to see animals killing each other over the colour of their fur.

On an artist side, I think using animal characters makes exaggeration more easy. You can exaggerate emotions with teeth, eyes, ears, tails; exaggerate personalities (a lazy, round-bellied gorilla, a strict and proper German Shepherd police office,, a weasel reporter with an odor problem) , and gain access to a whole world of different unique character designs by using different animals of every type.

Artistically it has a similar affect to serious stories done in a simplified cartoon-y style (or, say, important real-world issues tackled by YA fantasy and sci-fi): it gives it a unique look and it’s a different way of getting your readers to process things in a different, and often more enjoyable, way.