Our Friday with the Furries

Admit it, you’ve sat at home imagining what goes on each year at Anthrocon when human-sized animals roam the city of Pittsburgh. You may have even taken a drive past the Convention Center just for glimpse. This year a small group of us decided we would get up close and personal with these large fuzzy creatures because really how much do we know about our Furry friends? Well we had questions and I was willing to ask them.

For the last four summers Pittsburghers have been treated to an animal invasion when Anthrocon comes to town. This conference is for those who view animals like people, giving them humanlike characteristics, and their dedicated fandom. “Furries” are just one of the groups that takes part in the conference. Anthrocon began in Albany, New York in 1999 moved to Philadelphia in 2001 and finally made its home in Pittsburgh in 2006.

We made our way downtown to the final destination of our adventure, the Westin (where most of the Furries stay). On our way there a nice family from Cleveland stopped our merry gang. They asked us if people in Pittsburgh always dressed liked cats. We knew this was going to be a good night.

I stopped a gentleman in a black and white tail and asked him why some people wore just tails while others donned a whole costume. He seemed a little offended by the question. He quickly answered with, “not all of us have money to buy a whole suit.” Not the answer I was looking for. But now we wondered how much one of those suits costs.

Thankfully my next Q&A session went much smoother. I made a new friend from Michigan as we sat on a wall outside the Westin. She was more than willing to answer any silly questions we had.

She wasn’t wearing any fur and referred to herself as part of the fandom, someone who has an appreciation for anthropomorphics. She said she occasionally wore a tail to her college classes. Again I asked the tail and whole costume question. The costume is actually referred to as a “fursuit.” When you’re wearing it you give it a “fursona” and you become your “furperson.” This is a character you have created and it can be anything you want it to be. She said her character was the opposite of herself: outgoing, talkative, and confident. Partial fursuits can start around $500 and those really nice ones we all admired could range from $1,000-1,500. Wow. Those are hand-sewn spots on some of those fursuits.

I had to ask her, why Pittsburgh. She told me many other cities are absolutely brutal. Our city welcomes Furries with open arms while others have people lined up across from the conference yelling cruel things at them. I felt a lot of pride for our city when I heard the heartfelt way she said it.

We finally became brave enough to enter the Westin. All you heard from us for the next few hours was, “look at that, ooo ooo ooo, take a picture of that guy, oh my goodness it’s Sonic (the Hedgehog), and will you take a picture of me with that one!” Some of the most fun I’ve ever had, seriously. The fursuits were amazing!

I found another new friend who was walking around with a dog puppet (the man refused to be in any of our photos because the fuzzy friend on his arm was the real star.) I asked him why some Furries wore clothes. He told me that most of the conferences had a theme and Furries will sometimes wear clothes to match it. This conference’s was “Modern Stoneage Furry” (which explained all the random cavemen running around the hotel.) He said one conference he attended had a 80s theme and even had in a Delorean there for the guests to take photos with. I have several friends who would gladly put on a fursuit just to have a photo in one of those.

I then approached a woman who was wearing a NEO Furry t-shirt. She explained that was her local chapter and she was an admin for it. I asked her the big question, how do Furries go to the bathroom? She explained most suits do not have a zipper or flap or anything else to make going easier as most people would think. They have “headless lounges” where Furries meet up with their friends who will assist them by removing the fursuit. This is to ensure that the magic of the Furries will not be ruined when you take you mask off in public. I know we were all bummed out when we saw someone with a fursuit and a people head. This is also a reason some participants will just wear partial fursuits which consist of just a fuzzy head, arms, legs, and a tail that stick out from people clothes.

We definitely learned a lot from our Furry friends. The Furries did not go out of their way to make us uncomfortable. Most of them love to pose with you and enjoy that you’re having so much fun along with them. There were no Furries “going at it” in front of us. It was a very positive atmosphere where everyone, participants and observers, were just there to have a good time. I also learned it is very lucrative to be a pizza delivery person when they are in town. The most important thing was that these people were just having fun living their lives. I was so excited to learn that one of our favorite Furries (the grey squirrel who kept balancing a fuzzy acorn on her head) is a friend of someone close to me.

If you’re still on the fence with the Furries, I do have to mention the charity work they have done over the years. Through auctions and ticket sells to various events during the conference they have made several local donations:

• 2006- $8,407 for the Western Pennsylvania National Wild Animal Orphanage
• 2007- $7,608 for Animal Friends
• 2008- $13,154 for Pittsburgh Parrot Rescue
• 2009- $8,992 for Animal Rescue League Wildlife Rehabilitation

This year their donations are going to Fayette Friends of Animals. They even campaigned for them to win the Chase Community Giving Contest on FaceBook where they could win anywhere from $20,000 to $250,000.

• Dudders