Furries

[Becky]

Ok, an attempt at a balanced definition. I am NOT a furry but both sides hear me out before reaching for that thumbs down.
Furries are a relatively recent phenomenon which has been catapulted into near-mainstreamness almost solely because of the internet. It is obvious furries are very much victims of tarring the majority with the brush of an unappealing minority.
In the simplest sense furries are fans of anthropromorphic animals. That is, animals with human like features or tendencies (Fox McCloud, Sonic the Hedgehog... etc) pretty much all furries will create their own character or fursona for use as an art model and roleplaying, the designs of which vary wildly dependant on the artists skill and eye for contrasting colours (You get both amazing and appalling furry artists, and a wide skill range between these two) some furries can work wonders when it comes to creating a character on [second life]
The above paragraph is an apt description of your standard furry, however there is a small but VERY vocal minority of the yiff yiff kind of division. Even though this sort of furry probably only takes up 1/10th of the fandom this is by FAR the type you hear about most often from anti-furry biased sources.
Furry porn is dangerously close to bestiality. Sorry to anyone who likes it, but it is... However the ones who like it seem to be in a minority, with the ones liking the odd fetishes like vore and macro a very small minority indeed.
Furries get a lot of crap thrown at them on the internet in relation to the activities of the minority of their fanbase. They have a reputation to reacting to this in an over the top manner (such as comparing their treatment to the Holocaust), which realy doesnt do them many favours.
However on the whole they are just a group of people who are fans of a single concept, seem to know how to have fun, and are doing alright for themselves in terms of publicity.

[Tanya Shivari]

A subgroup of science fiction and fantasy fans who focus on cartoon animals, anthropomorphic animals, or human-animal hybrids.

[Sonia]

A world-wide subculture that has received some unfair criticism from the common person. This subculture involves the use of anthropomorphic animals of either a mammalian, reptilian or avian variety. Some furries will call themselves scalies or avians rather than furries to make that distinction. One of the reasons that this subculture is so often misunderstood is because there are so many subcultures within this subculture.

Fursuiters (those who like to dress up)
Otherkin (those who believe that they arent human in spirit)
Furries (those who like to roleplay, draw, or write stories about furries)
Furverts (Or: Furry Fetishists. This, in turn, can be divided into many more subcultures, all grouped by specific fetishes, like feet, macros, and other fetishes)
Trans-species (Those who physically alter their body to resemble their respective animals)

The majority of furries interact in one or two virtual environments: Furcadia (which caters specifically to furries) and Second Life (which is famous for furries, but caters to everyone). Known for being very social creatures, its not uncommon to see a furry make friends with many other furries. Social stigma, however, makes it harder for those who are openly furry to socialize with those who have a negative opinion about it.
That is not to say, however, that this subculture is undeserving of some of its criticism. Of all the strangest fetishes that exist in this planet, they are only made stranger by this subculture. Suffice it to say, the author has seen some pretty disturbing things; things that cannot be mentioned here. However, the majority of furries (and even furverts) exist outside of this disturbing minority and are happily content.

[Tanya Shivari]

furries are people who either are fans of anthropomorphic characters (and draw them), people who have an obsession with them, have a sexual obsession with them, or just want to be an animal. Most are usually artists or online storywriters. Contrary to stereotypes, these people are not sexual perverts, just people with a different obsession than most.

[Zipporah Schumaker]

The less-formal term for [anthropomorphic] animals, which are usually cartoon characters. [Furries] are animals given human characteristics, like the talking moose in [Brother Bear].

Fans of furry characters are also called [furries].

[Greta]

1. [Anthropomorphic] animal or cartoon characters such as [Bugs Bunny], Mickey mouse, or [Tony The Tiger]. So-called funny animals.

2. Fans of artwork and stories about [anthropomorphic] animals.

[Mark Zuckerberg]

a group of people that are into [anthro] art(art based on humanoid animals). a smaller group of wich go to cons and dress up in their fursuits (suits made to look like their fursonas). contrary to how media portrays them not all of them are into [yiff], and pretty much all of them are not 40yr-old virgin as shown in one episode of [CSI], as [mos] of the range from 15/16 [to 25]. they are also pretty pleasant to be around unlike what youd see on the news. those guys deserve to be [trolld]. you also wouldnt know they were furries unless they told you they were,theyre normal people, they could even be your best friend and you wouldnt know because of the [flak] they get.

[Dianne]

n. An [anthropomorphic] animal that has a basic human body structure (stands upright, arms, legs, hands, ect.). Typically funny animals are considered a separate thing as they are used almost solely for humour only and are not portrayed as either serious beings, [plausible], or science fiction/fantasy creatures. There is still a [fine line] between the two definitions.

[Luis Fok]

[The cancer] of [the internet]