This may apply accurately to people who were furries
first. I wasn't. When I was growing up, I wasn't attracted to cartoons or mascots. I was attracted to animals. If I hadn't done anything about it, I could've been
this guy. It was hell, but I couldn't help it.. I was obsessively, intensely attracted to animals, just like a lot of guys are to women when they're 13, 14. I knew, in no uncertain terms, that I couldn't do it. It would ruin my life to lose my virginity to an animal. So what I decided to do instead was divert the energy.. and act out my fantasies online. Fortunately, it worked. The urges that I had initially are gone.
So I didn't start out as a furry. I made the change only out of fear of what I would do to animals if I didn't. So I'm decidedly not the same as other furries.. it's even discernible in my style, because I'm very rough and 'feral' as a role-player. I do get enjoyment out of it. But I don't take any pride in being a furry, because it's neither how I really feel, nor is it a traditional 'normal' path which, if I could warm to it, would become more and more desirable to me because of the benefits that society gives to those that follow the rules. I'm a willing furry, but I'm not a happy furry..