Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Category: announcements

Nominate now! The Ursa Major Awards honor the best works of furry fandom in 2024.

by Patch O'Furr

Ursa art by Foxenawolf.

The Ursa Major Awards are an annual feature of furry fandom’s favorite media. Right now anything made in 2024 is eligible, and anyone can choose what deserves recognition.

GO HERE TO NOMINATE NOW. Time runs out at the end of February 28 so DON’T WAIT.

The Recommended Anthropomorphics List is a helpful guide for many options, but you don’t have to only pick from the list. The list is open for anyone to submit during the year, making a great way to discover things you overlooked or submit things you want to get seen.

PLEASE CONSIDER NOMINATING THE PODCAST: FUR AND LOATHING. This investigation into the 2014 attack on Midwest Furfest features reporting by Dogpatch Press, with a production team led by journalist Nicky Woolf. The series was an intense labor of love including a productive FOIA request for FBI documents, and travel to 4 states to interview numerous sources, bringing exclusive answers about the fandom’s biggest cold case crime. Nominate it under “Anthropomorphic Miscellany.” “Miscellany category has insufficient entries to make it worthwhile”; please nominate it under Non-Fiction.

Consider donating via paypal@ursamajorawards.org to support this service. It’s a connection to roots of fandom with a committee of old-guard fans; and a way to promote and connect with creators on the tides of social media, where it takes so much work to be noticed.

Like the article? These take hard work. For more free furry news, follow on Twitter or support not-for-profit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. Want to get involved? Try these subreddits: r/furrydiscuss for news or r/waginheaven for the best of the community. Or send guest writing here. (Content Policy.)

2024 Good Furry Award – final week for voting – open until September 30

by Patch O'Furr

Vote HERE for the 6th Annual Good Furry Awards 

See the nominations HERE before you vote. Since 2019, the Good Furry Award has been recognizing fan-nominated furries for outstanding community spirit. It has grown from one award to 4 categories:

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Fur & Loathing podcast concludes, expect more Furry True Crime reporting to come

by Patch O'Furr

Listen to Fur and Loathing here.

Here’s a wrap-up for the investigation of the Midwest Furfest 2014 chemical attack, by Nicky Woolf with help from Dogpatch Press. For the last episode, we recorded discussion of these points (although not all made the final cut…)

  • Being a community under attack.
  • The limits of the justice system, and how people can get away with crime, even if we know it.
  • The need for community protection from inside.
  • It can also take resources and reach we don’t have by partnership with outside help.
  • Without public awareness and being fully informed, negligence can cause more harm.
  • How different could things be if we had more transparency 10 years ago?

REVIEW: “Fur and Loathing is so fucking good.” – Podcast Promise

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How to join San Francisco Pride 2024 with the Northern California Furries

by Patch O'Furr

For members who completed an RSVP

Photo by Heather

The San Francisco Pride Parade is Sunday, June 30, 2024 — General info at SFpride.org

The biggest outdoor furry event of the year is back for Northern California. Don’t miss this huge party and statement of progress for LGBT people and allies. ABC7 will broadcast the parade to watch from home, while hundreds of thousands of people line the street from 10:30 a.m. until late afternoon.

The NorCal Furries will march on Market Street, for a mile to the end near the Celebration area at Civic Center. Over 200 are expected to come and be loved more than ever, after being shortlisted for a Best Contingent award last year. They have been in the parade for over 20 years (see the Pride tag). This year they have an after-party at their own club for the first time. Here’s how to participate!

JOINING THE GROUP — RSVP here

If you don’t RSVP, you can’t be guaranteed a spot and may be turned away, so join now!

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Furry Studies academic conference to launch October 18, 2024 in Rotterdam, Netherlands

by Patch O'Furr

Dutch furry fandom is spawning the Otterdam Furry Arts Festival, a public event celebrating furry culture and art. Part of the festival is a conference to connect academics, researchers, and community members for multi-field learning and presenting. It will happen physically and online, and you don’t have to be professional to contribute.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS — send proposals for work you can present at the event or online — DEADLINE IS JUNE 24, 2024

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Fur And Loathing podcast: Exclusive bonus video with listener questions, Hazmat expert doc.

by Patch O'Furr

The first four episodes of Fur and Loathing are HERE (six episodes are coming out weekly.)

Before Episode 5 comes out, here’s a surprise bonus episode. This mid-series break is making time for the investigation team to develop new leads that emerged after the series began.

Patch interviews Nicky, and pitches him listener questions about investigating the 2014 Midwest Furfest chemical attack. This Dogpatch Press exclusive video is 20 minutes longer than the official half hour audio edit published everywhere else. (In the extra run time, you can hear about another attempt to disrupt the con… Video transcript below).

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Fur And Loathing podcast episode 3 names suspects in Midwest Furfest 2014 chemical attack

by Patch O'Furr

COMING SOON: Exclusive Q&A with show host Nicky Woolf. Message @patchofurr on Telegram to join.

May 20, 2024: The third episode of Fur and Loathing is HERE (six episodes are coming out weekly.)

This Furry True Crime podcast series is a lavishly produced investigation into the unsolved 2014 chemical attack on Midwest Furfest. Episodes 1 and 2 covered the crime and scene. It promised exclusive never-reported news. Here it is in episode 3. Names are named.

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San Francisco Pride 2024 is coming, Northern California Furries need volunteers and funding

by Patch O'Furr

RSVP HERE to join the Norcal Furries in the 54th Annual San Francisco Pride Beacon of Love Parade.

On Sunday, June 30th, 2024, supporters for queer history and liberation will pack the city. It will be an amazing day for street fursuiting with a roaring crowd. Furries have over 20 years of fierceness in the parade, and last year we were runners-up for the Best Contingent award. This year we’re reaching even higher.

NEW private club party for furries!

For the first time, we have an entire club reserved for our own afterparty! The club can hold 400 and is walkable from the start and end of the parade.

Volunteers urgently needed, can you help? 

The NorCal Furries bring 100-200 members led by a small team of volunteers. We can’t do it without you. Volunteering is a good introduction for newcomers, and it’s low effort and just as fun in the parade. We need to keep asking until enough heroes raise their paws, and it has to happen early. Contacts below, PLEASE REACH OUT!

Can you help another way? DONATING IS LOVE.

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Midwest Furfest 2014 chemical attack: Fur And Loathing podcast Episode 2 at scene of the crime

by Patch O'Furr

May 13, 2024: The second episode of Fur and Loathing is HERE (six episodes are coming out weekly.)

The 2014 chemical attack on Midwest Furfest was one of the largest in American history. 19 people were hospitalized. Nobody was charged and the case went cold. 10 years later, never-before-reported findings are here in this Furry True Crime podcast with journalist Nicky Woolf.

In the new Episode 2, Nicky visits Midwest Furfest and traces events in the 2014 police report, gaining unexpected insight. He gets immersed in furry culture with an insider guide, then introduces a complication that stalled the case. Until now.

Last week’s launch announcement had an exclusive interview for Dogpatch Press with Nicky and Patch O’Furr. A reader requested the transcript below. Come back for surprising developments in upcoming episodes.

TRANSCRIPT: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – lightly edited for clarity from the video

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BREAKING: Midwest Furfest 2014 chemical attack – new findings by Fur And Loathing podcast

by Patch O'Furr

May 6, 2024: The first episode of Fur and Loathing is HERE

Think you’ve heard everything about the 2014 chemical attack on Midwest Furfest? Wait until you hear this.

The intentional release of chlorine gas sent 19 people to the hospital. It was one of the largest chemical weapons terrorist attacks in American history.

Who did it? And… why?

The targets deserve to know, because they were lucky to survive. The weapon’s deadly potential was only avoided by fast response. The level of crime fell just behind the 2001 anthrax attacks, but strangely, nobody was ever charged for it. The story faded into underreporting, disrespect towards the community, murky rumors, and hopes that it won’t happen again. There’s pride in resilience — but 10 years later, justice wasn’t served. It’s the biggest cold case in furry fandom.

The case revived when investigation by Dogpatch Press drew journalist Nicky Woolf and Project Brazen to seek FBI records, identify suspects, and fly across America to interview sources. Nicky is a journalist who reports on internet culture, with stories in The Guardian, and his original podcast series Finding Q and The Sound: Mystery of the Havana Syndrome. Nicky and Brazen’s series Fur And Loathing delivers never-before reported findings to empower the community.

EXCLUSIVE: Nicky Woolf’s introduction for Dogpatch Press

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