I’ve been showing my friend, a former anti-zoo, around, since it’s his first con, and it’s funny to realize just how many of my friends here are zoo or zoo adjacent. It’s been a cool experience to watch his preconceived notions about zoos melt away when he meets them.

One of the things he said is, “I don’t really understand why so many people hate you guys. You’re just normal people.” And I said, “it’s hard to stay hateful when you deal with real people and not with a caricature of what a zoo is supposed to be like.

Oh yeah, he was surprised how many people didn’t seem perturbed by the idea of zoo. He spoke with someone who was a therian and the subject was brought up, and the guy was super chill about it, which surprised him.

Had another person we were talking about who is a farmer, and he has a website with breeding videos. The gentleman isn’t a zoo himself, just a farmer and a furry, but he understands much of his clientele are attracted to animals, and he’s not bothered by it at all.

He said the other night, “I completely thought you were bullshitting when you said people don’t actually care, but they really don’t.”

Hahaha.