Rebecca Christensen, 26, dresses as a furry animal she calls Munchie as a hobby

The digital project manager from Rochester, New York, joined the furry fandom after accidentally going to a convention in 2014

The fandom is a subculture who dress up as furry animals to express creativity

Rebecca shares her furry adventures to 12.8K Instagram followers, but some people think the hobby is a sexual fetish

She has received backlash and even death threats on her Instagram page, even though she ensures the hobby is PG-rated

People have been sending death threats to a stunning woman on social media for dressing as a giant furry animal.

They think her quirky hobby is a sexual fetish, but digital project manager Rebecca Christensen, 26, from Rochester, New York, says 'it's not that at all'.

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She shares her furry adventures with 12,800 Instagram followers to prove that the fandom community isn't weird.

Backlash: Rochester, NY resident Rebecca Christensen, 26, has received death threats on social media for her unusual hobby

Alter ego: Rebecca dresses like a giant furry animal that she calls Munchie, an angel dragon who loves to spread positive thoughts

The furry fandom is a subculture interested in animal characters with human personalities and characteristics.

Furry animal characters typically have human intelligence and facial expressions, speak, walk on two legs and wear clothes.

Rebecca created her furry alter-ego, Munchie, who is an angel dragon, and loves to spread positive thoughts, after accidentally signing up for a furry convention in October 2014.

She had been making special costumes using faux fur since she was a teenager, signed up for Arizona Fur Con in 2014 thinking it would be an opportunity to sell her costumes.

'We had no idea it was a furry convention until we got there and we loved every minute of it. I made my first fursuit heads right after that convention.'

Rebecca was immediately impressed by the community's fun, welcoming and inclusive atmosphere and knew she had to be a part of it, creating Munchie as soon as she got home.

'Munchie is very much an extension of my personality and her goal is to spread positive thoughts, which is akin to how I navigate my life and my job every day.'

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Crafty: She completely handmade the Munchie fursuit after accidentally joining a furry fandom convention in 2014

Working fuzz: Rebecca sometimes dresses as Munchie when going to her job as a digital project manager

Munchie's fursuit has been completely handmade by Rebecca and she has now started making suits for others.

'I didn't even draw it out before I started, so she's pretty pieced together to be honest,' Rebecca shared.

Many people don't understand the furry community and often think that people who partake in it are weird, so Rebecca created an Instagram to disprove this.

Fun pictures on the @itssofuzzyy Instagram page show Rebecca in full fursuit dressed as Munchie out and about, or in her office wearing her fursuit head and working on her laptop.

'To put it simply, these pictures are "me." I am a hard-working professional that likes to build and wear cute furry costumes - I like to try to convey that simple message through the images I share because I want them to be authentic.

Unfortunately, she has received some backlash from trolls who have gone as far as to leave death threats on her posts.

'There are a few people, mostly online and mostly younger that just hate furries for whatever reason and comment death threats on furry posts,' Rebecca said.

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'I just block them and move on. There is clearly a bigger issue there than their dislike for furries and I'm not going to convince them one way or another.'

Furry fun: The fandom is a subculture that creates and dresses as animal characters with human personalities and characteristics as a form of self-expression

Family friendly: While Rebecca admits that fetishes do exist within the fandom, that isn't what the community is about. Instead, it's a 'PG-rated' and supportive environment

People wrongly think that everyone who is involved in the furry fandom is in it for a fetish, something that it isn't for Rebecca.

'People think furries are just a fetish thing - I'm guessing because there was an episode of CSI in like 2002 that depicted furries in that way. To be clear, it's not that at all.

'I'm not going to lie and say that doesn't exist, but it's definitely not what most furs are about. And there's a lot of younger furries in the community so things are typically PG-rated when it comes to furries.'

Rebecca said that furries aren't weird, they're just expressing themselves through the costumes, but people hate on them because they don't understand them.

She uses her Instagram following to show the rest of the world a glimpse into the types of people behind furry suits to be a good example for the fandom as a whole.

'We're not hurting anyone, we're just having fun in our own way,' she said.

'The majority of people don't know what furries are and I have the opportunity to explain what they are for the first time.

'There are some people that have heard of furries as a fetish and think that's all it's about - so I politely explain to them that they're wrong and typically they're open to it.'

Negative criticism: People have shared hate messages and even death threats on Rebecca's Instagram, but she just blocks them and moves on

Rebecca's friends and family love her unusual hobby and she says that without their support she wouldn't be as involved in the subculture as she is today.

She said her friends regularly help with sewing and working the booths at conventions, and now her boyfriend even wants to join the fandom, too.

'Even when I don't necessarily need help, they want to come hang out just for the experience. My boyfriend didn't even know what a furry was when we met and now he can't stop bugging me to make him his own suit.'

Rebecca said that joining the furry community has brought a lot of positivity and self-love into her life.

'I've made so many great friends in the fandom and it's been a really awesome creative outlet for me in general.'

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'Plus, the amount of creativity behind some of these characters and suits is insane. Scrolling through my furry feeds and attending conventions is so interesting because the level of detail and thought process that went into these characters is amazing.'

She said that the furry community is extremely supportive and protective of each other. They stand up for each other amidst any death threats and hate on social media.

'Furries are really protective of one another and truly supportive when needed. I've seen countless social media threads of just random furries sticking up for other random furries on the internet - it's really sweet and inspiring.