Sir Keir Starmer‘s new health minister Ashley Dalton has raised eyebrows by backing the idea of people identifying as llamas, saying that they deserve ‘dignity and respect’.
To most, the idea of someone identifying as a South American pack animal may seem beyond the realms of absurd, but to a small but growing community of people who feel more aligned to furry creatures than they do humans, the news will come as cause for celebration.
A growing number of individuals around the world have rejected their human identity, claiming instead that they feel more comfortable being thought of as cats, dogs, horses. There is even one woman who indeed appears to have self-identified as llama.
Online, thousands of young people calling themselves ‘therians’ or ‘furries’, gather to share tips on ‘trotting’, feeding, and suggestions on how to persuade their school or workplace to let them use a litter tray rather than a human toilet.
The term therian refers to people who identify as non-human animals on a deep level and engage in behaviours associated with their animal identity. They differ from furries, who see their animal persona as a character – with or without a sexual element – while therians innately feel animal characteristics.
While it may seem peculiar to many, the therian community appears to be growing across all walks of life – from adults who periodically dress as pets for ‘escapism’, to children in schools who refuse to be identified as human.
Many choose to express their identities by adopting a cat mask or wolf mask, depending on which animal they feel an affinity with. Though dogs and cats are popular choices, some believe they are foxes, wolves, or even some creatures that are now extinct.
The trend has sparked outrage, with a handful of schools across the UK – including three in Scotland – having been revealed to allowing children with ‘species dysphoria’ to identify as other creatures.
Elsewhere, others have paved the way for the emerging species-friendly space. Last year, US singer Dorian Electra added litter trays to public toilets at venues they were touring in a bid for ‘inclusivity’.
In a video posted to TikTok, the singer showed them crossing out a sign that read ‘all gender restrooms’ and replacing it with a sign that read ‘species’ over the word gender.
Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the people who call themselves pets, munching from bowls, using litter trays and walking on all-fours to live out their ‘real’ identity.
Llama
While it may have sounded absurd to many, one American woman on TikTok does claim to identify as a llama.
The social media user runs a popular TikTok account called punk.rock.llama, where she frequently posts comedy videos dressing up as fictional characters and performing mimes with her various animal puppets.
In one video posted to the app, she filmed herself puppeteering as a llama. She captioned the video: ‘I identify as a llama, a threat, and A Bit Much.’
Several in the comments commended the video, which featured a lip syncing of a TikTok sounds. One wrote: ‘You’re awesome!!!’.
Another resonated with her llama identity, writing: ‘Hello punk rock llama I’m laidback llama. Nice to meet you and your content!’
Elsewhere on their page, where she boasts 148,000 followers, the self-identifying llama posts videos dressing up as various fictional characters and lip syncing TikTok songs.
US singer Dorian Electra added litter trays to public toilets at venues they were touring in a bid for ‘inclusivity’.
Human pups
In 2016, a Channel 4 documentary shared insight into the secret world of ‘human pups’, a pet play craze here in the UK that sees humans dressing and behaving as dogs.
The strange hobby involves ‘pups’ getting people to take them for walks, eating from a bowl and dressing head to toe in costume.
According to the documentary, 10,000 people follow the pet play craze, including Tom, a technician from Hertfordshire in his thirties.
His alter-ego is a Dalmatian dog called Spot, and describes dressing up as and behaving like a dog as a form of ‘escapism’.
‘You disappear and start chasing puppy toys. You go so deep into the head space, you crave it and want it. It’s just magic,’ he said in the documentary.
Unable to cope with his peculiar hobby, Tom’s fiancée Rachel called it quits on their relationship – though at the time the pair remained friends.
Tom revealed he had spent £4,000 on his canine habit over a ten-year period. In the documentary he showed off a rubber costume complete with breathing tube.
According to the documentary, 10,000 people follow the pet play craze, including Tom, a technician from Hertfordshire in his thirties (pictured)
Tom said the craving was so strong that he had taken to sleeping in a dog training crate, lined with puppy training pads in case he has to answer the call of nature.
Appearing on This Morning in 2016, the self-identifying canine trotted on set on all fours before perching down on the floor to sit besides presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.
‘It means being able to escape from life and day-to-day business. It’s a chance to unwind and clear the mind,’ he told presenters, delving into the bizarre habit that all started when he bought a dog costume on eBay.
Describing how it feels to be in puppy mode, he said: ‘When you’re into it, you ignore what’s going on around you in terms of money and food.’
The only time Tom said he drops the identity is when he needs to use the facilities: ‘I drop back into human mindset when going to the loo,’ he confirmed.
‘It’s not sexual. It’s just escapism to get away from everything that’s run of the mill. There’s no sexual aspect to the puppy side.’
Tom also revealed he has a handler, Colin, who assumes the role of owner when Tom is being a puppy. Describing the relationship he said: ‘It’s not love. We’re soul mates good friends.
‘I have slept on a cage along the way. Colin will be in the bed and I’ll be on the floor. It’s not a dominant submissive relationship though. It’s more care, love and handler.’
The 13-year-old cat
Another young person who calls themselves therian and identifies as another creature is Amber from New York – otherwise known as Wispy when she is dressed as a cat.
The young teenager boasts a popular TikTok following of 184,100 with a comment section teeming with aspiring therians seeking advice on embracing their animal identities.
On one of Amber’s recent videos, hopeful therians eagerly shared their admiration for her. ‘Therians are actually really cool, I wanna be one but idk how to make a mask,’ one commenter wrote.
‘I want to be a therein,’ a second said, while others begged to know where she’d bought her cat mask.
The youngster regularly posts videos of her prancing through fields, testing her balance crawling across tree trunks, and improving her ‘look’ with more sophisticated costumes.
Speaking to Mamamia last October, Emma’s mother said she initially thought her daughter was going through a ‘passing fad’ but soon realised her desire to dress as a cat ran deeper.
When Amber first divulged her desire to be a cat, her mother admitted she was taken aback but responded ‘gently and understandingly’.
Amber then broke down in tears having feared how her mother would take the news.
Initially concerned with how others would accept her in society, the mother told the publication she had mostly witnessed ‘positive outcomes’ and was pleased to see it bring ‘great joy and also comfort’.
She said she is wholly supportive of the strange fascination and helps source materials to build new costumes, allowing her to embrace her fox identity to it’s full extent.
‘She has delved into the creative world of mask-making and she is incredibly talented. She also gets plenty of outdoor time and exercise… The various activities she does seem to be soothing for her and good for the soul.’
‘The world is a crazy place, we’re all just trying to figure it out and work out who we are,’ the mother said, adding that she had no plans to snub the passion which sees as bringing her child ‘joy’.
TikTok therians
The therian community insist they are different from furries, as they identify as the animal, rather than seeing it as a character.
They adopt animal-like movements, including leaping through the air and showing off their walk, trots and canters
An emerging group of teenager’s have been filming themselves coming home from school and finding relief at being able to express their ‘real’ animal persona again, while others have posted guides to ‘coming out’ to parents.
Some therians even claim they experience ‘shift’ impulses to behave like their animal selves, where they temporarily get taken over by their instincts, and post videos of themselves on all fours or connecting with nature.
One TikTok account, called @.fern_.the.therian, shows a group of therians running through fields of grass and throwing their masks and tails in the air.
Another, based in Reading in the UK, posted a video of themselves leaping onto a chair, while wearing a fluffy tail and animal mask. They said: ‘I caught a shift! It’s my first time since my therian awakening two to three years ago, and even this one was tiny!
‘This was the animalistic behaviours I was experiencing, I knew where I was and that I was filming but I couldn’t control it much. Shift incoming!’
Therians have been hosting meet-ups throughout the UK, where they can meet like-minded souls, advertising where they live on TikTok.
The groups have even put their own spin on ‘day in the life’ videos, showing them collecting rainwater overnight, reading books about nature and watering plants – all while wearing an animal mask.
Some TikTok users express their identities by adopting a cat mask or wolf mask, depending on which animal they feel an affinity with.
Therians usually wear a mask of the animal they identify with and a tail, and feel they are especially attuned to nature
Others have struggled to come to terms with their identity in the world, with some depicting themselves spasming into an animal after ‘having been idle too long’.
One clip revealed a young therian claiming that they were left ‘shaking’ after a doctor’s appointment where they weren’t offered a litter tray to use.
But there are also ‘polytherians’ who identify as multiple species, while ‘paleotherians’ even identify as extinct animals.
Therians are a subculture of Otherkins, who identify as partially or entirely human. They say they feel especially attuned to nature, while others identify using the term ‘transspecies’.
The Wolf Woman
In a similarly canine vein, Naia Ōkami, from Seattle in the USA, previously said believed that she is ‘spiritually and psychologically’ a British Columbia Wolf.
Speaking on the I’ve Got News For You podcast in 2022, Naia, who goes by NaiaGoesAwoo online – said identifying as a wolf does not affect her day-to-day life, relationships or job and that she ‘doesn’t really care’ about the nasty things people say about her online.
Naia, who is also transgender, said she was just 10 years old when she started telling people she had ‘the spirit of a wolf’ and spent years figuring out her identity before finding the term therian.
She said she is a wolf ‘on all levels except physical’, often howls, sometimes dons a tails and ears when dressing up and spends time volunteering at wolf preserves to bond with the animals.
‘So spiritually and psychologically, I identify as a wolf but I know I’m human. I walk on two legs, I’ve got a job, I’ve got a career. My partner is human,’ she said.
Naia has been open about her identity and copped cruel criticism and trolling as a result but is unfazed.
‘There’s plenty of reasons to hate a person. If you’re going to hate me because I’m blunt and I said something that offended you or a did something wrong that’s a valid reason not to like me,’ she said.
‘But if you’re going to dislike me because of just an identity or a trait that’s not hurting you or anyone else, I don’t really need you in my life anyway.’
Naia said people also often wrongly assume she must have mental health issues but assured listeners that isn’t the case, insisting that her identifying as a wolf had no impact on her day-to-day life.
According to Naia, there are some therians who take it ‘too far’, such as those who take their alter-egos into public. ‘If you go to work and you’re barking at your co-workers clearly that’s in the realm of causing some sort of problem but most therians don’t do that,’ she said.
Naia said her unique identity ‘doesn’t make a difference’ in her friendships and relationships and only has a few fellow therian friends.
She claims being a wolf therian actually helps her in her job as an investigator where she tracks down people who harm animals and children.
‘When I’m going after predators … I get to feel like a wolf hunting my prey and my prey happens to be humans who are doing bad things,’ she said.
Naia ¿kami, from Seattle, calls herself a therian, which is someone who identifies as either an extinct or living animal, and believes she is ‘spiritually and psychologically’ a wolf
Father-of-three who dresses as a rabbit
In 2021, Adrian James, from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, detailed his passion for dressing in rabbit costumes.
The thirty-something -year-old father of three worked as a mechanic by day, but had a secret passion for dressing up as an alter-ego – a bunny rabbit called Keel.
He even attends large events where other ‘furries’ meet up and share their passion to become animals. At the time he had seven rabbit costumes in total.
‘I have always had a soft spot for rabbits. I had a rabbit teddy when I was younger which I rediscovered as teen and have been obsessed ever since,’ Adrian said.
The Covid-19 lockdowns offered the perfect time for Adrian to pursue his hobby and he became even more involved in making costume.
‘The lockdowns have been great for my hobby because it has given me much more time to be Keel and make some new furry outfits.
‘I like spending time as Keel and being at home enabled me to be him a lot more that usual. I converted my attic into a sort of studio where I can create the outfits, and tend to find that I’m enjoying myself the most when sewing together my latest designs.’
The thirty-something -year-old father of three worked as a mechanic by day, but had a secret passion for dressing up as an alter-ego – a bunny rabbit called Keel
Adrian began his quirky hobby as a child and has since found the interest has an extensive community. ‘People are into furries for different reasons, for me it’s the community feel within it and the artistry in the outfits. I love seeing new outfits when they’re made.
‘My new suit, who I called Chiral, was originally supposed to be sold on. But I liked him so much I decided to keep him for myself.
‘It can take months to finish a suit so being able to stay at home for such a long time gave me plenty of it to start making new furry outfits.’
He even created a space in his attic where he could create new costumes in pursuit of his hobby, which he insisted was ‘all about expression’ and that he was part of a very ‘active’ community of like-minded furies.
Adrian said he has not let people who judge him put him off his quirky interest but wishes people would understand the community more. ‘There are some not very family-friendly sub communities in my community, like the fetish guys who have a sexual interest in furries, but I do not judge them for that.
‘But that’s not me, for me it’s all about the creative side of the suits and the way it lights up faces when I walk past.’
Teens dressed as foxes
Last year, a desperate mother took to social media in a bid to seek advice on her 13-year-old stepdaughter who self-identifies as a fox.
Speaking on the mental health podcast The Dr. John Delony Show, stepmother Jill said she was struggling to know how to handle the situation, with the teen having ‘come out’ as a therian.
‘She wears a mask and a tail and has a YouTube channel of her jumping around like a fox in really short shorts,’ the horrified woman continued, adding that the girl’s biological mother was seemingly encouraging the behavior at her house.
‘I’m at a complete loss and I’m shocked and it is a whole thing and there’s a name and there’s terminology and there’s things that are offensive to them,’ she told the podcast host frantically.
In an even more bizarre twist, the stepdaughter had apparently also converted Jill’s nine-year-old biological daughter into a therian – with her stepsister now identifying as a giraffe, the flabbergasted woman relayed.
The stepdaughter had also made and posted a video with Jill’s two ‘young kids’ over Christmas, which the parents hadn’t even known about until later.
Jill went on to ask Dr. John if she should let her own daughter ‘continue to be a giraffe’ – and, ‘more importantly, what rules do I have in place in my home about the internet and screens and social media?’
‘And can I tell my stepdaughter that her cell phone’s not allowed here?’ she added.
‘And overall, big picture, what kind of relationship should I have with my stepdaughter?
‘Since I’m not her bio parent, but so much of her influence is over my house and my daughter, who’s absolutely in love with her, adores her, and I’m sure a big reason my daughter’s doing this is to gain good favors with the stepdaughter.’
Jill worried for her stepdaughter for both her children and insisted she would monitor the children’s phones and attempt to keep them ‘anchored to reality’.
Culled from DailyMail.
