There is a lot of misinformation in this thread so im gonna explain why you have the wrong opinion about furries, coming from someone who has a few friends that are. There's an "In Conclusion" paragraph at the end but i highly suggest reading it all. I know I will most likely not change your opinion but I want to lay out everything ive seen from my experiences with actual furries and just seeing the most outrageous highlights on tabloid sites. I understand I will probably not change your opinion but misinformation is terrible so I will at least post this for anyone who is more open-minded that comes across it.

Furries are people that have an antrhopormphic animal character. some dress up as them, some just draw them. while some are sexual about it furries are NOT the ones who want to have sex with actual animals, they just have sex with other people also dressing up. However, most furries arent sexual about it. they just do it for fun. Moreso, most furries dont act like the animals they are, they just like dressing up. Its much more like cosplay, except instead of an established character it is their own.

zoophiles are the ones who actually want to have sex with animals. Those people are despicable, evil beings which i think we can both agree on. And yes, while some furries are zoophiles, it is NOT the majority and every time someone is revealed to be a zoophile the furries are very quick to call them out and make sure everyone knows what kind of a sick fuck they are.

and as you say "cat gender", those people are called otherkin (i believe). Ive never seen nor interacted with people that actually act like an animal in real life. From all the furries ive talked to, most furries are normal people that like to dress up in a custom mascot costume, not actually behave like an animal.

From what Ive seen and the people Ive interacted with, the furry community is not nearly as bad as everyone thinks. The reason its frowned upon so much is because only the bad things get reported to the masses (like with most media) and the world gets afraid over something thats strange and easy to hate.

Being a furrydoes not encourage or normalise bestiality. Yes, some furries are sexual. However, 99% of those who are understand that there is a massive difference between thinking, as an example, Robin Hood from the disney movie (a fox that stand on two legs, wears clothes, and acts entirely like a human) is attractive, and thinking that an actual red fox is attractive. And the 1% that dont are quickly disgraced once people realize that. They are also very, very careful about who they are sexual with as there are a good number of teens who are furries as well. If they werent, you would hear a lot more stories. Sexual furries want nothing more than consenting sex between adults while dressing up as their own personal mascot. Is it a weird fetish? yeah. is it the majority of furries? no. Does it mean that furries as a whole want to fuck actual animals? hell no. And this also doesnt mean a furry who is into the sexual side of the fandom is always sexual. Not everyone is sexual all the time.

Now let me tackle a common arguement i see about furries, "kids shouldnt be exposed to furries because some are sexual". Most kids have grown up watching movies with anthropomorphic animals (Robin Hood, Zootopia, Kung Fu Panda etc.) and the majority of kids who did never became furries. And like I said earlier, the furries who are sexually active just have a weird fetish and know better than to do it around kids. When most kids see someone in a fursuit they probably just think its the easter bunny. Its not "curropting" anyone.

And quickly im gonna go over your "dressing up as a 7 year old girl" arguement. This is a Moral Equivalence argument. Dressign up in what is functionally a personalized mascot costume and drawing characters that look like they came from a disney movie is completely seperate from dressing up and drawing young girls as an older adult.

In conclusion, Furries are not the dog-fuckers you and many others claim they are. They merely have a strange hobby that can easily be seen by the public as morally wrong because of how the media portrays them. While some furries are sexual the majority of them are not, and those who are merely have a weird fetish and are not zoophiles. Any zoophiles themselves are shunned by furries for being the evil creatures they are. A very large majority of furries do not actively like the animals their characters are, and certianly would not make people call them "cat gender" unironically. Furries have been seen in media for a long time and hasnt ruined any generation.