A story about an otter detective wouldn't be considered fantasy? So you know otter detectives running around out there in the real world?
Until animal-people actually exist, stories centered around animal-people reasonably fall into the speculative genres. A book about a vampire detective is probably going to get shelved in the fantasy/sf section, not mystery. Why should furry fiction be treated differently?
A story about an otter detective wouldn't be considered fantasy? So you know otter detectives running around out there in the real world?
Until animal-people actually exist, stories centered around animal-people reasonably fall into the speculative genres. A book about a vampire detective is probably going to get shelved in the fantasy/sf section, not mystery. Why should furry fiction be treated differently?