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Dogster, the Friendster parody that accidentally became a pet-based social network, just took a million dollars in angel funding. The ensuing news coverage has reporters and bloggers (like VentureBeat's Matt Marshall) trying to explain that Dogster is not about the dogs:

Under pretense of their dogs doing the talking, owners are expressing themselves in all kinds of ways that they wouldn't normally.

In fact, owners may find it easier to say things they wouldn't be able to say on dating sites. Rheingold is seeing all kinds of things — for example, one post was about a dog whose Mommy came home after something called a "date." The dog said he didn't know what a date was, but that Mommy said it didn't go very well, this date, and so the dog said he stayed by her side and tried to make her feel better.

Yeah, Dogster and companion site Catster are really dating sites for furries — you know, people who act and dress like anthropomorphized animals (not that there's anything wrong with that). That's why the satire site Something Awful explored the creepy Catster forums this spring.

Dogster raises $1M to expand — Woof! — but it's not about the dogs [VentureBeat]