Brian Griffin, the martini-drinking anthropomorphic dog from the animated series Family Guy, has been killed off. In the episode which aired on November 24, Brian was hit by a car and subsequently died from his injuries.

In the same episode (entitled Life of Brian), Stewie Griffin had dismantled his oft-used time machine, and was unable to reconstruct it to go back and save Brian. A month after Brian's funeral, the family get a new dog, Vinny, voiced by Tony Sirico.

Family Guy writer Steve Callaghan explained why they decided to kill off Brian:

Well, this was an idea that got pitched in the writers room and it sort of caught fire, and we thought it could be a fun way to shake things up. As soon as this idea came up, we started talking about what the next couple episodes could be and we got very excited about the way this change will affect the family dynamics and the characters.

Update: Some fans were, predictably, not happy with Brian's fate. The effectiveness of online petitions is debatable, but one has been set calling for Brian's return. As of now (Nov 26), it has just under 42,000 signatures.

The loss of fursuiter Lemonade Coyote was met with widespread grief among members of furry fandom, including this remembrance from his friend Silver Wolf. Lemonade Coyote's coworker Cody Medley also sustained fatal injuries, after a car drove through an intersection and crashed into their ambulance while they were on the job as medics.

Police said the ambulance was not on an emergency run, but had the right of way when the car ran a flashing red light. An early report that "both medics were wearing seatbelts" is contradicted by a later report that neither wore seatbelts and both vehicles were speeding.

[Prosecutor Curry said] Hammer was driving 5 to 10 mph over the speed limit, while the ambulance was driving 15 to 20 mph over. The posted speed limit was 30 mph.

The driver whose traffic violation caused the crash had a blood alcohol level of 0.038, less than half the legal limit. According to the prosecutor, the traffic violation "does not rise to the level of criminal recklessness", and there will be no criminal charges for the fatal crash.

Fursuiter Lemonade Coyote/Cyrus (Timothy McCormick) is reported dead after another vehicle broadsided his ambulance early this morning. He was 24. [tip: Scott J. Fox]

While not on duty, Lemonade enjoyed fursuiting. His suit's bright and vibrant pink and yellow was true to the name. He was passionate for sticking up for what was right; once saying his dream job was to be a homicide detective.

This isn't the first time that a motor vehicle accident has prematurely taken away a furry fan. Automobile accidents have become a leading cause of death in the fandom.

Furry artist Porcelain Joe died last Friday in a car accident, according to a friend. He was 25. [tip: Rayne Van-Dunem]

Joe, also known as Josey Pearl on Second Life, lived in the San Francisco Bay Area where he attended Los Medanos College as an animation student. He had previously attended Diablo Valley College, and De La Salle High School in Concord, California.

Joe joined the fandom last year; his prior work was on deviantART.

Harison Long-Randall, known as "Elden" in the furry fandom, passed away at 3.02am this morning from complications from injuries sustained in a hit-and-run on July 16, according to family. Eyewitnesses said he heroically put himself in front of his girlfriend, Gemily (known as "Wolfgem" in the fandom) to shield her from the oncoming car. Their four Australian Cattle Dogs were also killed in the crash.

Long-Randall, 21, was a college student at American River College studying improv, an avid fursuiter and cosplayer, and was loved by many both in the fandom as well as out.

His last day in the hospital, Harrison said he remained puzzled that he was being called a hero.

"He said he had just done what he had been taught to do," his father said.

Donations for help with Harison and Geminy's medical bills are still being accepted through a fund set up by the Sacramento Bee, and more information on donating can be found here at the bottom of the article.

Just after nightfall on Monday, July 16, Gemily West (Wolfgem) and her boyfriend Harison Long-Randall (Elden) were walking their four Australian Cattle dogs home from a visit to their local park in the Carmichael neighborhood of Sacremento, California, when they were struck by a drunk driver. Witnesses reported that the light-brown Nissan Maxima was driving with no lights on (including tail lights), when the accident occurred. Police could find no evidence of skidmarks or any other sign that the perpetrator attempted to slow down, and estimated that the driver was going around 80 miles per hour when he struck the victims and fled the scene.

As reported in the Sacramento Bee, 21-year-old Hari saw the car coming just a moment before it struck and threw himself in front of his girlfriend, Gemily. He took the force of the impact, which severed one of his legs just below the knee and left him with extensive internal damage as well as other broken bones. Gemily sustained a compound fracture in her lower right leg. All four of their beloved dogs, Zury, Winry, Evie and Bindie, were slain.

Update (29 July): Hari has now died of his injuries, two weeks after the crash

UK fur Snack Raccoon (aka. Dark Raccoon), reported to have died earlier this week, was experimenting with erotic asphyxiation at the time, former mate Ollie Pup has revealed:

IT WAS NOT SUICIDE! it was a sexual fantasy and a breathplay experiment that he did while we were out and went horribly wrong and resulted in what happened.

PLEASE if you are into breath control fantasies or have any kind of snuff fantasies or fetishes or whatever, remember what happened to him and think twice about what you do and for the love of Dark please just never try anything like that on your own.

Snack and Ollie co-hosted Furpile Radio, an online radio show which they founded in 2006. Snack also used to hold Super Smash Bros. tournaments at Eurofurence.

Brian Dyer, known in furry fandom as Athus Nadorian, was reportedly killed in a car accident.

Athus, 29, was an artist, and co-owner and lead designer for Bad Dragon, a company which specializes in toys of a sexual nature. He was mated to Narse.

Athus died on October 11. The vehicle he was a passenger in was believed to have failed to yield to oncoming traffic when making a turn, resulting in a collision with another car. In response to his death, Athus's friends and family have set up a memorial website.

Texan artist, fursuiter and longboarder Derek Paws (DJ) has reportedly passed away at the age of 22.

Derek was injured in an automobile accident on Monday morning, and died just after midnight the next day.

Furp at Dorsai Thing 31

Long-time fandom member and convention volunteer Furp (Patrick Reed) died yesterday in an accident on the roads close to his work at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base in California.^[1]

Furp was riding his motorcycle on Highway 62 when a Marine turned left in front of him.^[1][2][3][4] He was pronounced dead on the scene. He was 29.^[5]

Furp was a regular member of Anthrocon operations staff, as well other conventions such as Califur, FurFright, Midwest FurFest and Rocket City FurMeet, and provided expertise in first-aid.

The report of Furp's death resulted in an outpouring of emotion from friends and well-wishers. A LiveJournal community,   remember_furp, has been set up in his memory.^[6]

Furp's memorial service will be held at Heritage Funeral Home, 16880 National Ave., New Berlin, WI 53151 (262-901-1140), likely on February 28.^[7][8]

Popular furry artist Dark Natasha was involved in an auto accident yesterday night near her home in Evergreen, Colorado. According to reports from David Stein and fellow artist Heather Bruton, a SUV ran a red light and T-boned her car. Knocked unconscious by the impact, she revived only as firemen used the Jaws of Life to peel her out.^[1][2]

Natasha has been hospitalized for several fractures to her pelvis and multiple contusions. She is expected to be in the hospital for several days, and recuperating at home for several weeks, missing this weekend's Califur.

A Swiss motorist who thought he struck a dog discovered he had actually hit a man in a dog costume. The victim had earlier attended a stag party and passed out on the road while walking home. He was dragged about 120 feet after being struck but was not seriously injured due to the thick, padded costume.

Full story from Ananova.