As someone who grew up with the Redwall books I’m a bit sad all instances of anthropomorphic animals are met with that thought, which immediately assumes sexual deviancy.
Like, there’s some anthro visual novels out there that seem really cool, get a more stylistic look to each character by being animals, and yet they’re probably more associated to furries.
I don't even really blame the furries themselves though. They're not hurting anyone. In some ways I just blame the high phobia of viewing anything they might theoretically find any interest in.
I have a small group of them that I play Final Fantasy XIV with on occasion, and they're decent guys.