furryne.ws

The tails and ears are held on with straps, and the fur is usually fake -- but the money that Anthrocon furry convention visitors spend Downtown is very real.

More than 4,500 furries -- fans of art, literature and games featuring anthropomorphic, or human-like, animals -- are flooding the city for Pittsburgh's sixth annual Anthrocon, held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. During their five-day meeting, which started Thursday night, the furries will attend lectures and workshops as well as nightly raves at the convention center.

They'll also spend an estimated $5.3 million at Downtown businesses, said Sam "Uncle Kage" Conway, chairman of Anthrocon's board of directors.

Downtown Pittsburgh will see some new visitors in town this weekend: furries.
That’s because the annual furry convention is being held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
“We are the world’s largest convention dedicated exclusively to cartoon animals, and we see that as an art form,” according to chairman and CEO of Anthrocon, Inc., Dr. Samuel Conway.

I feel SOOO wrong for liking this picture.

When Jan Van Dusen appeared before a U.S. Tax Court judge and a team of Internal Revenue Service lawyers more than a year ago, there was more at stake than her tax deduction for taking care of 70 stray cats.

Hanging in the balance were millions of dollars in annual tax deductions by animal-rescue volunteers across the nation—and some needed clarity on the treatment of volunteers' unreimbursed expenses for 1.55 million other IRS-recognized charities.

Piercing kittens to give them a “goth” appearance is cruel, a panel of Pennsylvania judges has ruled.

Three judges of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania on Monday affirmed a lower court conviction for animal cruelty of a dog groomer who had offered “gothic” kittens on eBay.

The groomer, Holly Crawford of Sweet Valley, Pa., offered the kittens for $100; Judge Kate Ford Elliott wrote in a 19-page opinion that “metal protruded from the kittens’ small bodies, pierced through their ears and necks, and at least one of these kittens also had an elastic band tied around its tail, an attempt at docking, which is a procedure to stem the blood flow so that the tail eventually falls off.”

An investigator for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals posed as a customer and met with Ms. Crawford in 2008 and reported her to the authorities. The kittens were seized, and a jury found Ms. Crawford guilty of animal cruelty; in April of last year she was sentenced to six months of home detention and electronic monitoring, followed by probation.

Ms. Crawford, who was described in the opinion as having “several facial piercings” and being “enthusiastic about piercing,” had admitted to piercing the kittens herself without anesthetic, though she did treat them with antiseptic after the procedure.

In her appeal, Ms. Crawford had argued that Pennsylvania’s cruelty statutes were too vague, and said many accepted veterinary procedures like declawing cats and cutting a dog’s vocal cords could fall under the same category of “acts that maim, mutilate, torture or disfigure the animal” that she had been convicted of.

Judge Elliott wrote, “Appellant’s claims center on her premise that a person of normal intelligence would not know whether piercing a kitten’s ears or banding its tail is maiming, mutilating, torturing or disfiguring an animal.”

The judge added, “We disagree.”

France was punished on Thursday for not taking proper care of its hamsters.

The Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the European Union’s highest court, ruled Thursday that France had failed to protect the Great Hamster of Alsace, sometimes known as the European hamster, the last wild hamster species in Western Europe. If France does not adjust its agricultural and urbanization policies sufficiently to protect it, the court said, the government will be subject to fines of as much as $24.6 million.

The Great Hamster, which can grow up to 10 inches long, has a brown-and-white face, white paws and a black belly. There are thought to be about 800 left in France, with burrows in Alsace along the Rhine. That is an improvement: the number had dropped to fewer than 200 four years ago, according to figures from the European Commission, which brought the lawsuit in 2009.

Dressed in a surrogate mom costume, Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center volunteer Colleen Grzan encourages a bobcat named Crystal Spring to eat mice.

Here's the trailer for the "Shrek" spin-off, "Puss in Boots."

Spotted at Best Buy this weekend: Chop Kick Panda. I have no idea what this is, but a clip on You Tube (embed below) doesn’t seem so bad – looks like a rejected Cartoon Network pilot (and I mean that as a compliment). Anyone know who’s responsible?

The last of the Arabian oryx was believed to have been shot in 1972, but a successful breeding program has its population now standing at 1,000 in its Arabian peninsula habitat.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) moved the species from its "endangered" list to the "vulnerable" classification. The group told the Guardian that this is the first time a species that was classified as extinct has been brought back.
Many people believe the two-horned oryx is the source of the unicorn legend, the one-horned creature that's a prominent feature in storybook fables about princes and dragons.

France 3 took a look behind the screens of Ernest & Célestine, an animated feature film directed by Benjamin Renner, Stéphane Aubier end Vincent Patar. It's produced by Les Armateurs (France), La Parti Production (Belgium) and Mélusine Productions (Luxembourg).

Ever wanted to own a pet fox? For about $7000 dollars you can have a tame one imported from Russia. Crazy? Yes. Adorable? Damn right.

Lyrics/Melody/Vocals: Michelle Osorio
Arrangement/Harmony: John Jolley
Video directed by Michelle Osorio
Full credits to come in the bloopers video!

Funded entirely by donations from our Kill9 fans!

Lyrics: This is the story of Toby McBane 'Tis a tale of adventure, I swear it's not lame. It starts in Gilneas, 'neath fathoms of fog Where Toby lived gaily on mince meat and grog. Toby was baking some hot friendship bread When a lycanthrope pwned him and left him 4 dead but a man had a cure for the dark werewolf curse. Though they're technically Worgen in this Universe. Give a bow and a woof and your bollocks a wash For werewolves with top hats are dapper and posh Do a stomp and a jig Cuz we're charming, but tough. And we'll rule Azeroth till Mom makes us log off! Toby's kin feared him so he made furry friends but he struggled to win back his lady love Gwen Making love with a beast, the thought filled her with dread So he wore his good top hat when yiffing in bed Give a bow and a woof and your bollocks a wash For werewolves with top hats are dapper and posh Do a stomp and a jig Cuz we're charming, but tough. And we'll rule Azeroth till Mom makes us log off! Give a howl... and a bark 'Cause here's the part where Worgen break it down Give a growl... and a sniff! The word is out that fangs are sexy, baby. Give a bow and a woof and your bollocks a wash For werewolves with top hats are dapper and posh Do a stomp and a jig Cuz we're charming, but tough. And we'll rule Azeroth till Mom makes us log off! (Repeat)

The eastern cougar has been extinct for more than 100 years, according to biologists, but this hasn't kept people living around Greenwich, Connecticut, from calling local conservation officers with reports of mountain lion sightings. For months, the Department of Environmental Protection fielded calls but paid little attention, stating that the likelihood an actual mountain lion was roaming the suburban area was slim.

Then, on June 11, they received a call they could not ignore: A motorist reported hitting a large cat that was now dead on the side of the road.

Note: As a Sonic fan I can attest to this. Besides the tragedies that are the Sonic Adventure series of additional characters, what about the Chaotix? How about Ray the Squirrel? What about all those animals Sonic rescues?

With Sonic Generations coming upon us in time for the holidays, as well as 2011 being Sonic’s 20th anniversary, it’s a great time to take a look back at the franchise’s extensive history. A lot has changed in Sonic’s 20 years of breaking speed limits and smashing Badniks. The changes have been so drastic, you could even say that Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic are a part of two separate worlds. There may be some truth to that. While Modern Sonic’s world really leaves no mystery behind it, Classic Sonic has a few more skeletons in his closet: missing levels, unreleased games, and, most notably, missing and never-before-seen characters.

The screenshots show AnthroCon as an example. I assume this app can be used for other conventions.

Gaming Furever is the SOURCE for all you need to know about video games featuring anthropomorphic animal characters in any shape, form, or fashion. It also serves as a community for gamers who are interested in these types of games, and/or who consider themselves "furries."

The site sell baseball caps with fox, raccoon, or bear themes including a tail on the back of the hat.

Not too bad of a slideshow. Some shot do make it look way too much like Mickey, and I think they should have added some more color to Oswald.

BlazBlue‘s battle squirrel Makoto Nanaya has received a figure rendition by Freeing armed with tonfa and in a costume which leaves little to the imagination, due in October 2011.