A group of Syrian refugees in Canada ended up at the same hotel as a furry convention, and it’s amazingly weird

According to a post on Vancoufur’s Facebook page, about 810 attendees, 171 of them in costume, came out for this year’s convention at the Executive Airport Plaza hotel. That same hotel is also hosting groups of Syrian refugees as part of Canada’s commitment to take in up to 305,000 fleeing civil war and Islamic State militants this year.

A letter distributed to Vancoufur attendees asked them to be respectful of the refugees. “Keep in mind they likely will not want to interact with you and consent is important for everyone.”

Turns out that wasn’t entirely the case. Several videos and photos from the convention show some of the younger Syrian children fascinated with the elaborate costumes of the convention. The furries in turn let the kids check out the costumes and even danced with some.

Very cute, although some less cute encounters apparently went on later on in the hotel.

Still, it sounds like the refugees’ interactions with the furry convention were mostly positive. Looks like Disney’s Zootopia marketing strategy is paying off.