In the final hours of August 6, furry art community Fur Affinity released a brief news post announcing that its owner, Dragoneer, had passed away, after a nasty respiratory disease that he had posted about publicly on social media. During this time the purple Digimon gave a hopeful prognosis on his last Fur Affinity journal, believing he’d recover in one to two months, but also showing how serious the situation was on Bluesky with anxiety about getting appointments as the condition worsened. A July 15 post indicated he had suffered pneumonia-like symptoms since mid-June, but didn’t seek help prior; likely fearing the cost, being uninsured.

Sean “Dragoneer” Piche was a foundational individual in a new generation of furry community leaders, fostering a struggling art site called Fur Affinity to a dominant position in the fandom - as well as promoting and later taking over responsibility for a companion convention, FA: United, before COVID-19 caused the difficult decision to permanently cancel the con.

"Fur Affinity is now online and may be accessed safely", according to a journal on the now-accessible furry art community, recounting details of the hack that preoccupied much of the fandom for the best part of two days - and urging users to leave the FBI to investigate rather than pursue vigilante justice.

Meanwhile, the "Honoring Dragoneer's Legacy" fund approaches $200,000 - including five-figure donations by Paw Maltz and Bad Dragon - although there is still some way to go to the $221,800 target.