If you read my comment again you'll see I didn't just say that them being there was what caused the furry fandom. I already pointed out that anthro characters have been around for a much longer time than the fandom. The part about the proliferation that I do support is that more than 50 or so years ago there was much less access to 'furry' content. People only had access to books, which may contain anthro characters, but the fandom is primarily a visual fandom. In the last 50 years and as the fandom emerged what became far more available were TV's and a greater access to shows with furry characters. So the amount of anthro characters people were exposed to would have increased.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
If you read my comment again you'll see I didn't just say that them being there was what caused the furry fandom. I already pointed out that anthro characters have been around for a much longer time than the fandom. The part about the proliferation that I do support is that more than 50 or so years ago there was much less access to 'furry' content. People only had access to books, which may contain anthro characters, but the fandom is primarily a visual fandom. In the last 50 years and as the fandom emerged what became far more available were TV's and a greater access to shows with furry characters. So the amount of anthro characters people were exposed to would have increased.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~