INSIDE EDITION reveals what really goes on at the secret world of Furries conventions.
It's a convention for people who are anything but conventional.
They call themselves “furries,” and they gather by the hundreds wearing cartoon-animal costumes.
A photo was taken at a convention in Pittsburgh called “Anthrocon,” and can you believe more than 1,300 people showed up wearing furry costumes.
A YouTube video showed the hot new trend at furry conventions called “The Dance-Off.”
So, what's it like inside a furries convention?
INSIDE EDITION producer Nicole Kumar went in posing as a furry at the gathering in San Jose, California.
She said, “Just now, I was approached by someone who said I had to put a dollar on her antler and the beast would save my soul.”
Many of the furries posed for professional photos, like any family portrait, only a lot weirder.
Hotel guests could hardly believe what was going on around her.
Furries are triggering fierce criticism from some.
"Fur suits creep me out," is one of the milder comments on YouTube.
Others call furries "weird" and "losers."
Morgan Smejkal is a furry. She says, "To be a furry is to be an enthusiast of cartoon comics and art."
At her home in Iowa, she showed us some of her outfits. There was a giant pair of feet, a little padding on the hips and butt, and a zipper up the front. Then came the big finish, the headpiece, to complete a character she created which was a red panda named Katana Rose.
The price tag of her costume was $2,500.
She said, "I can breathe just fine. I can even get a drink of water of I want to, the mouth hole is right there."
It's not for everyone but it suits them.
