Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Tag: the furry detectives

July 13, 2026

EXCLUSIVE: Report tracks zoosadists hidden in the Pacific Northwest furry scene since 2018.

by Patch O'Furr

DISTURBING CONTENT WARNING. This is an update to investigation of the 2018 Zoosadist Leaks.

(Clockwise from top left): Matthew “Cupid” Grabowsky, Tekkita, Coywolf, Kit Fox, Marlo, and Akari. They and many associates appear in a 191-page report being released here.

A simmering threat [2026]

Washington is on the volcanically active Pacific Ring of Fire. It’s famous for the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, when the volcano went through months of earthquakes and swelled with magma until it exploded. It released 24 megatons of energy, left a mile-wide crater, killed 57 people, devastated hundreds of miles of land, and was the most financially destructive volcanic event in US history. It caused major new awareness of disaster preparation. Today deep under the mountain, a complex, interconnected magmatic system makes the next eruption an even bigger threat; not if, but when it comes.

This isn’t the story of a natural threat, but another socially-constructed one below the surface.

In October 2026, a Washington furry named Matthew “Cupid” Grabowsky is set to be released from jail. He’ll be on parole for his second conviction for preying on children and animals. Grabowsky did it in a ring of people like him in the Pacific Northwest furry community, who present as regular community members, but keep another face hidden. His return is being watched by people whose warnings were brushed off, before and after he was caught — and those who know how many uncaught ring members are still where they always have been.

When Grabowsky was first arrested, he was at the epicenter of a quake under the community. Members scrambled to hide or face heat from the police. It shook out some buried corruption, and would make one organizer factory-reset his phone to hide involvement. A few ring members took the blame, but most of the evidence was buried, with friends helping to smooth it over. The impact was shallow in the end, and aftershocks weren’t seen as connected. There was no map to monitor the fault lines. The few other ring members who got caught were seen as internet denizens, not as part of a specific real life scene that connects offline, which helps it to stay underground.

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June 29, 2026

Anthroverse Vice Chair forced to resign, retract false claims in Mephit Furmeet zoophile coverup.

by Patch O'Furr

Admission of wrongdoing from the top of a furry convention.

It’s rare to see consequences when leaders abuse power. Here’s a result of investigation by Dogpatch Press into networks for animal sex abuse, how zoophiles can use the furry community as a front, and how leaders corruptly hide them. This investigation has expanded across multiple furry conventions, including Mephit Furmeet in Memphis, TN, and overlapping staff at the newly founded Anthroverse in Ohio.

The reporting exposes a decades-long pattern that hasn’t been addressed until recently. The pattern began to emerge in 2025 with community protest about a notorious zoophile spokesperson. (Charles Alexander Berry, AKA “Toggle Rat”). While Mephit Furmeet management looked the other way, Toggle attended for at least 13 years while interacting face-to-face with management, on their stage and in official con promotion.

Further digging led to evidence that zoophiles WERE management, according to staff lists from the convention’s own website.

When the evidence couldn’t be refuted, they tried to smear the reporter to bury it. Mephit Furmeet management spread false rumors to staff in common with other cons. It leaked out when the Vice Chair of Anthroverse openly lied to 120 followers. The attempt to manipulate public trust wasn’t credible, and then Dogpatch Press was vindicated for reporting what they don’t want you to know.

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June 16, 2026

COVER UP: Why is Tanta of Mephit Furmeet and Anthroverse hiding zoophile corruption?

by Patch O'Furr

UPDATE: followup article about Tanta’s resignation.

This is a correction to statements by Tanta, volunteer handler at Mephit Furmeet and Vice Chair of forthcoming convention Anthroverse. This report presents evidence to help the community beware of leaders who abuse their positions to lie for PR.

A source for raising animal charity for PR, while looking the other way for animal abusers. (Image updated due to inaccurate tag in linked photo.)

Background of problems at Mephit Furmeet.

Furries close to Mephit Furmeet, the Tennessee convention founded in 1997, were fed up with animal sex abusers being welcome while management ignored complaints. Requests for help led to Dogpatch Press contacting the con, then reporting in October 2025 on behalf of the community and those who were ignored:

Mephit Furmeet put one of the world’s most infamous zoophiles on stage to represent the fandom.

The 2025 report features evidence of 13 years of attendance at Mephit Furmeet by animal sex abuser Charles Alexander Berry — who goes by Buck, Clunk, or Toggle for hosting a podcast called Zooier Than Thou. Toggle attended the con over 4 years after his real identity was tied to his aliases in 2021, despite an organized effort to remove his influence. Local groups took action, but Mephit Furmeet stonewalled this effort, according to sources close to the con.

Toggle was not just a random attendee. This zoophile spokesperson was a long-featured musician in official Mephit Furmeet promotion with his band Exit Mouse. He interacted face-to-face with management at many panels they ran; panels with as few as 5 attendees. His 13-year attendance was under one director with 25 years of tenure, Tyger Cowboy, who started as con chair in 2001.

Here’s where pulling threads starts to unravel a wider network across the history of the con.

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March 13, 2026

Furries in the Epstein Files? Search brings up narratives where we fail to tell the full truth.

by Patch O'Furr

News in a moment: but first, recommended background for the Epstein story.

The Epstein files represent a major coverup of crime by wealthy elites, broken open as an ongoing public scandal. It keeps exposing worse and worse associations with dead financier Jeffrey Epstein. It’s a story of rich pedophiles and their enablers, including Donald Trump. Do you feel lost about where it starts and ends? Try this episode of radio show This Is Hell for an interview with an award-winning journalist who wrote a book about the coverup. It’s packed with fresh, conversational analysis to help you catch up.

Furries in the files?

In 2019, Epstein’s alleged suicide in jail silenced him from having to testify about powerful friends. It couldn’t silence demands for the government to finally release documents of official investigation… partially and controversially so far. With over 3.5 million pages released as of March 2026 (and who knows how much more to come), you can search for any term in them and possibly get results.

What happens if you search for “furry” or “furries”? Dogpatch Press did this on February 14, before a completely separate effort by fellow furry reporter Sonious published on March 8. You should go read Sonious’ article that propels this one.

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October 23, 2025

UK furry event founder and outed zoosadist ring member is still running events 7 years later.

by Patch O'Furr

SERIES: Who runs your community? Five stories about predators with powerful friends in fandom.

No consequences for participating in the worst crime ring to ever emerge in fandom.

A series of international furry events under the name Club Animalz (and other names) has been held in Manchester and Berlin since 2017. The founder, Foxb/Foxberance, AKA Ben Mills, was exposed as an animal rapist in the 2018 zoosadist leaks. Mills raped animals on video, in a fursuit made for him, that he used for years. In 2025, his events are still popular and partnered with large cons in the mainstream of furry like Confuzzled.

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August 8, 2025

Two years of anti-zoophile community moderation: Heika’s work with Laelaps on Bluesky

by Patch O'Furr

Founder heikadog

In Greek mythology, Laelaps is a dog that never fails to catch what it is hunting.

On Bluesky, tens of thousands of users use the Laelaps anti-zoophile labeler. This volunteer-run project collects evidence of animal abusers and enablers, publishes a list, and shows a label on listed accounts so you’re informed before interacting. A labeler utilizes third-party moderation service, hooked up to Bluesky features that help you choose how to use the platform. It lets you actively curate rather than passively consume what you’re fed.

This is their second anniversary of launching a list, their first anniversary of integrating third-party labeler service, and now the public evidence is just reorganized with its sub-categories for refined use. You can support it with ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/laelapsfyi

Laelaps started with a small team of furries and now reaches people from all walks of life. It sets a standard for community moderation that any group can follow. Founder heikadog (aka Heika, they/them) was interviewed by Dogpatch Press about the mission, methods, history, and impact of the internet’s most successful project in its niche. They say furries run the internet, and here’s more proof.

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July 9, 2025

Preview The Furry Detectives docuseries, and learn how reporting emerged against backlash

by Patch O'Furr

Full series out July 17. The first 12 minutes of the first episode:

The Furry Detectives docuseries — The story they don’t want told, emerging against 7 years of backlash and interference.

Coming on AMC+: this 4-episode series introduces furries who investigated the 2018 zoosadist leaks. (More summary of the leaks.)

The leaks exposed evidence of deep-rooted, ongoing animal abuse networks in the community. They use furry as a cover, for organizing that isn’t easily dismissed with “anyone can be a furry, we can’t gatekeep it” disclaimers. Half of the truth is that abuse happens in any community — and internet tech and platforms are big factors not fully in our power — but the whole truth is that this behavior is uniquely among us in real-life organized ways seen nowhere else. It’s nobody else’s problem when our groups are run by and for us.

Making our own destiny is how fandom works at its best. However before the show releases, it’s catching some backlash for airing problems that the community didn’t properly deal with for 7 years. It’s like some people want things brushed under the rug so ignoring it can make it worse. That behavior was always holding back investigation over 7 years while publishing tens of thousands of words of reporting at Dogpatch Press.

There was a lot of generous team work as well, but some of the most counterproductive behavior was not just from incuriosity and denialism, putting optics over solutions, or random bad actors… Most alarmingly, there’s also corruption from influence at the top.

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July 5, 2025

Newsdump: Room Party art show during Anthrocon, furries on NPR, public image in the media

by Patch O'Furr

Happening now: Anthrocon and Room Party show at Bunker Projects, 5106 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh

Anthrocon has competitors for the world’s biggest furry convention, but is unsurpassed in other ways. Their street parade is a wonder of the furry world, uniquely partnered with Pittsburgh and swarmed by cheering residents on a blocked off city street.

Fursuiters make public image by flaunting millions in art at such events, but it’s also about the artists. They’re enjoying how Pittsburgh welcomes furries like nowhere else, with their own art show at a gallery apart from the con.

SEE ROOM PARTY: http://room-party.com. The show has a 6-week run with film screenings, workshops, and informal art-making gatherings. Curators include Brett Hanover (previously in furry news with his movie Rukus.) Brett sent info:

Room Party is the first-ever large-scale group exhibition of contemporary and experimental furry art, featuring over 50 artists working in drawing and painting, comics, photography, installation, video, and new media. Curated by furry artists Lane Lincecum, Brett Hanover, Cass Dickenson, and Paul Peng, Room Party takes its name from the unofficial hotel room parties held during conventions—embodied virtual realities where furries try on unimagined identities, invent new sexualities and artistic expressions, and discover alternative ways of being known. Room Party brings the love and creativity of these events to Pittsburgh’s Bunker Projects, putting furry artists in conversation with the fine art world, the broader queer community, and the contemporary moment.

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April 22, 2025

The Furry Detectives: Unmasking a Monster – TV docuseries investigates the 2018 Zoosadist leaks

by Patch O'Furr

Furry True Crime is a genre

In 2024, the Fur and Loathing podcast came out with Guardian journalist Nicky Woolf and Dogpatch Press. The show investigated the Midwest Furfest 2014 chemical attack, based on previously unseen FBI documents and interviews across 4 states. Apple Podcasts gives it a 4.5 star rating, and it has 4.8 from critics, who call it “made with deep reverence and contribution from maligned, largely disenfranchised communities… I think Fur and Loathing is pretty much exactly what I want in true crime.” – Podcast Promise.

Those are results to keep in mind when expecting another Furry True Crime show on the way. They make 2 examples of this suddenly-a-genre (and there’s a third one coming later.) Other kinds of documentary may raise less eyebrows, but these examples aren’t fur-sploitation or salacious tragedy porn. Sorry, the mainstream already makes too much trashy stuff for weirdos who aren’t furries, go find it somewhere else…

Here you’ll find intensely curious investigations for smart people who care about problems and solutions. They feature experiences within the community, made with members, using pro resources to tell deeper stories than can be told without their combined forces. Socially responsible true crime media exists, and we’re already in it.

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