Furry fandom has had more than its fair share of criticism, both from within and without. A Flayrah review of Shawn Keller's "Horrifying Look at the Furries" (2001) notes that Mr. Keller "associated furry with bestiality and pedophilia." A decade later, most of our critics do the same.

But the title was purposely provocative. This may come as a surprise, but I'm not talking about the furry fandom at all. Instead, I'm calling for more criticism of the furry genre.

This piece has three goals: to explain why criticism is needed, what kind of criticism, and finally to offer a few points of criticism as examples.

Ted Sheppard, an artist from the early days of furry fandom, was arrested last December, suspected of uploading child pornography.

In November last year, following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, that someone in the Tucson (Arizona) area was uploading child pornography, the Tucson Police Department's Internet Crimes Against Children Unit started an investigation. This lead to a search warrant being served on Sheppard's address in Tucson, on Wednesday, December 11. The 46-year-old Sheppard was arrested, and booked into the Pima County Jail for ten counts of Sexual Exploitation of a Minor.

Sometimes resented, but real, there is overlap of different groups that some might call a "furry/gay axis". It brings theories, stereotypes, appreciation and much discussion.

Does it happen in Russia too? Do some Russian furry fans wear rainbows as often as some in North America? Do they fear Russia's anti-gay oppression in current world news? Would they think twice about costuming in public, or holding meets, if they might be charged with illegally spreading information about "non-traditional sexual behavior"?

Is there a place on the web where international furry fans can easily connect with Russian furs to ask about their opinions and experiences?

As I've been browsing Twitter recently, scrolling through various news about the fandom, I came across this QRT (quote retweet for the less savvy) talking about a new con and how it was going to fail right out of the gate. Being the curious investigator I am, I decided to look at the original post from an organization calling themselves AWOO or Anthro West Open Organization. From what I saw, I was saddened by the number of my fellow furs calling for death to the con, or wish harm to those that would hold it, especially since we used to be such a loving fandom. I kept reading more into the reasons why people both hated, and loved this con or the idea of it (whichever it is, we'll know for certain soon enough).