When Cheryl Wassus heard that the Motor City Furry Convention was coming to her home town, she made a logical assumption. Her dog, Link, is a trained therapy dog, and the pair is used to attending animal-related events.
In fact, they are active advocates for an organization called Pets for Vets, the same charity Fur Con was raising money for. The organization works to connect veterans with service dogs, and it made sense that “fur con” meant a convention for fellow dog lovers. Dogs are the definition of furry, so they planned to attend the event to show their support.
But when they arrived, Cheryl quickly realized it wasn’t a pet-themed event at all. She didn’t know what furries were, and both her and Link were more than a little surprised to walk into a pack of people wearing fluffy animal costumes.
Cheryl’s son, Kenny Wassus from NY Magazine, hilariously documented his mom’s experience.
https://twitter.com/kgw/status/850771953208184832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.someecards.com%2Fcute%2Fanimals%2Ffurry-convention-dog-mom%2F
Instead of turning the real-life pooch away, Link ended up being the star of the show. He was obviously the best dressed furry of the bunch, and his new friends couldn’t help but admire is hyper-realistic fur suit.
He posed with his admiring fans like the good boy he is, even when things got weird.
ok link is starting to panic now sos pic.twitter.com/VFFmYtFOfZ
— kenny wassus (@kgw) April 8, 2017
While Link was hamming it up in front of the camera, Cheryl was getting a cultural lesson in all things furry. She told select/all:
“I had no idea I was walking into Furry Con. It was a little embarrassing at first because Link was just a little curious why people were wearing tails, so he was doing some serious tail-sniffing and checking out people. They weren’t offended, though, they just embraced him. It was all good. Just a real interested community.”
Link being a good sport pic.twitter.com/wLSnGNi82Q
— kenny wassus (@kgw) April 8, 2017
In thanks for being such good sports, Cheryl and Link were invited to participate in one of the panels. They ended up raising $10,000 for Pets for Vets and turned a potentially awkward situation into positive change for veterans in need of service dogs.
Cheryl doesn’t plan on delving further into the furry world (all that fur is too hot, she says), but she at least has a great story to tell.
