Furry whose parents discovered his hobby after finding him in a bunny costume says they fully embrace his interest
A waiter whose parents discovered he is a furry when they walked into his bedroom to find him dressed up in a bunny costume has said his family immediately embraced his hobby and his mum has even starred in one of his anthropomorphic animal TikToks.
Owen Mullett, 24, told PA Real Life he started dressing up as a furry – an animal-like character with its own name, costume and personality traits – after stumbling across TikToks about the fandom during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Mr Mullett, based in Darlington, Durham, got “more and more interested” in the community and eventually began to message furry creators, before attending his first convention and eventually making his own social media videos, amassing more than 15,000 followers on TikTok.
He said the furry community has “improved my life”, adding: “It’s a fandom where you can be yourself, you can express your creativity, you can be free in yourself, there’s no judgment, you’re just you.”
Under his fursona – furry persona – Shoyo, Mr Mullett has two different fursuits and each one allows him to inhabit a different energy.
“When I’m in my original suit, I’m a lot more jumpy around, energetic, it’s complete chaos. It’s just a bit more fun,” he explained.
When Mr Mullett attended his first convention wearing a fursuit in November 2022 he was “really nervous actually” and “really scared” but enjoyed bringing a smile to people’s faces in his furry costume.
He has since attended three furry-specific conventions in the UK and described them as spaces “that I can be with friends in an environment where we all feel safe and I feel happy”.
“If you see a 24-year-old rolling around on the grass (with) his mates, playing leapfrog, you’re going to think that’s a bit weird but it’s doing that in a fursuit around other people who are exactly like yourself, it’s hilarious, it’s all fun.”
At these conventions he has been to “loads” of furry raves, saying that “dancing around to loud music dressed in a silly costume is hilarious” and adding that they are some of “the best experiences I’ve ever had”.
After attending his first convention, Mr Mullett’s parents discovered him making a TikTok video dressed as a furry in his bedroom one day and immediately embraced his hobby.
“I thought the best approach is just saying, ‘Yeah, this is what I do, this is funny, this is a hobby now, I hope you can just deal with it’.”
His mum responded “That’s brilliant, I love it, it’s so silly, it matches you perfectly,” Mr Mullett said.
Mr Mullett added: “(Their support) helps me be a lot more free around the house to make TikToks and my mum’s even been in a TikTok before, she really enjoyed it.”
The video is a comedy skit showing Mr Mullett in his fursuit walking through his house and dancing in the kitchen, while his mum dances in the background.
His mother in particular is “really interested” in the furry fandom because “she loves the sewing aspect” and “has gotten really into watching videos of fursuit makers”, he said.
“My little sister is extremely fond of wearing my suits. If I leave it on the bed, she’ll put it on her head and walk away with it, she just thinks it’s hilarious.
The furry fandom has brought Mr Mullett a greater sense of community, as he “went from having my little group of four friends to over 100 friends that I interact with regularly” and connected him with his partner, who is also a furry.
“It’s taken me from a place where I didn’t have many interests, I didn’t have much going on, apart from my work life and just hanging out with friends,” he said.
Mr Mullett occasionally meets up in public spaces like parks while wearing a fursuit with other furry friends but said: “You’ve got to be careful.”
He added: “There’s people who don’t agree with it and they obviously want to take advantage of the fact that there is some person dressed as an animal (and) insult them.
“There are also small kids around so you’ve got to be careful, for one, scaring them, you don’t want to scare a kid in a giant animal costume, but also, they’re expensive so you’ve got to be careful because you don’t want them to be damaged.”
Mr Mullett paid £800 for one fursuit and around £970 for the second, while his partner made him a bodysuit to wear with both of them, which cost around £350.
“Most of them are homophobic comments, for some reason. It’s really weird, because I don’t post anything that’s productively LGBTQ+,” he explained.
Mr Mullett said there is a “misconception” that being a furry is a sexual fetish, and added: “People can do whatever they want to do, but it’s not for me, it’s not what I do.”
However, he added, the furry community has helped him feel “a lot better” in himself, connected him with dozens of new people and opened up additional interests such as art, which he hopes to pursue as a career.
“For me, the furry community was a big step. It was something that I wasn’t sure about. I was uncomfortable about the idea (at first) and to learn about it and start understanding it was a great experience.”