The year was 1999, and the furry fandom was coming into its own in its transformation from a group of anthropomorphic cartoon enthusiasts into a unique, well-defined subculture with its own norms and values. But this change didn't come without growing pains, many of which were located on the de facto furry hub at the time- alt.fan.furry.

The Usenet group for people who believed that they were actually animals, alt.horror.werewolves, had been relentlessly flooded with flames, spam, and general trolling by outsider communities who'd gotten angry that one of their regulars had been playing 'netcop' across Usenet. Despite rendering the AHWW unusable for anybody looking for an honest discussion, the thirst for the blood of animal people still ran strong in the trolls, and they turned their sights to alt.fan.furry.

At the time, Usenet newsgroups could be created either with or without moderation, and because alt.fan.furry was a free-for-all, the communities that had obliterated alt.horror.werewolves hit alt.fan.furry with full force. In an act of desperation, a man who'd been active in the community since the beginning, Peter da Silva, made a modest proposal to the group and its meta spinoff: to implement moderation in the newsgroup. Because moderation settings couldn't be altered once newsgroups were created, this could only be done through a 'split', wherein the old alt.fan.furry would be removed and replaced by a new, moderated group of the same name.

Despite assuring users that this proposal had nothing to do with the current controversies in the group and fandom at large (i.e. smut and bestiality), and was merely an attempt to safeguard the community from the onslaught of outsider attacks, the response from fellow furs was strong and largely negative (though not always), ranging from "serious reservations" (alt.fan.furry politics crosspost) to accusing da Silva of going KANCEL KRAZY!!!. Three years prior, the fandom had been torn apart by the mere creation of an alternative newsgroup, alt.lifestyle.furry; to most, erasing AFF as they knew it was unthinkable.

Despite the flames upon flames he received, da Silva proceeded in his quest, trying to work out moderation policy and responding to objections while users held an unofficial vote over the matter, discussed what essential requirements for the "split" would look like, and wondered whether alt.fan.furry should be moderated at all. However, the controversy proved to be too much for da Silva, who eventually backed down from his quest as AFF continued on as it always had.

Eventually the spam, arguments, and trolling increased to the point where the newsgroup was nicknamed 'alt.flame.furry', which prompted two users to try and realize da Silva's wish of a moderated community just months after the split controversy with the creation of a new group - rec.arts.furry. While this ended in failure, forums on the world wide web were beginning to take over the online landscape, and as flame wars and trolling were rendering Usenet unusable for many, these new forums offered more controlled, adaptable platforms for discussion. Slowly but surely, AFF was dethroned as users took to the world wide web, but because of da Silva's failure to split the group, its history and drama are preserved for eternity.