A woman in Detroit accidentally brought her dog to a furry convention, and I have nothing in my heart but pure love for this woman.
Cheryl Wassus, who is affiliated with Pets for Vets (a nonprofit that pairs dogs with military veterans), accidentally brought along her one-year-old Bernese mountain dog to the Motor City Furry Convention, after a *slight* misunderstanding. As you do.
“I really had no idea what to expect going in on Saturday,” she told New York Magazine. “This organisation had chosen us as their charity. They actually solicited us, and adopted us more or less, as their go-to charity for this big function. This is just a whole subculture I wasn’t even aware existed. When we set up tables and do promos and educate the public and do outreach, I had no idea the outreach was going to be other human … furry people. I guess you’re never too old to learn.”
That all being said, Cheryl got into the swing of things, taking bulk photos of the furry peeps with her dog, Link, and having mad chats with the furries and their mums. (Link = GREAT name. The goodness of this name needs to be recorded.)
This would have all flown under the radar were it not for her son, Kenny – a senior producer at New York Media – choosing to shame his mum online.
my mom thought furrycon was a pet event and volunteered w our therapy dog ?? pic.twitter.com/mizlydLxjl
— kenny wassus (@kgw) April 8, 2017
And that’s how Cheryl came to be interviewed by New York Magazine. Apparently, Link had a great day with his new anthropomorphic friend – and so did Cheryl. When asked if she had a favourite furry, she replied:
“This one – and I thought he might really put off my Link – was the big guy in the black wolf costume. He looked so awesome. He even has a different tint on the eyes, the degree of workmanship is amazing. It’s like Hollywood-level. That guy’s costume was probably my favourite, and he seemed to really enjoy Link, too.”
ok link is starting to panic now sos pic.twitter.com/VFFmYtFOfZ
— kenny wassus (@kgw) April 8, 2017
Despite being unaware of the entire furry subculture before last Saturday, Cheryl is probably now better acquainted than the rest of us.
“I learned so much about this whole new culture of people who get together and dress up in furry costumes,” she said. “I didn’t know that there was this progression — like first, they choose a name, and start off with just a tail and ears. But from there, some of these costumes are amazing, and so elaborate. I was asking a lot of questions. Where do you get these? Where do you come up with something like this? A lot of people design their own, I guess. They decide what character they want to be, and then they spend lots of money having these costumes made. And then, they all get together for these events. Similar people. Similar interests. And they come together [at cons].”
Please Cheryl: never, ever change.
Photo: Kenny Wassus / Twitter.
