It sounds great, doesn't it? Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, it's not true. A shock-jock radio show made it up in order to have something to say after being denied a media pass.

It wasn't even that; it was the person threatening to punch them.
Without that, the hotel wouldn't have demanded a $22,000 security charge.

Avians and scalies exist and are considered part of furry fandom, yes. Some dragons like to think they're better than lesser species, though.

We actually have an extensive article on the topic at WikiFur…

I don't know many chickens. Edible animals usually aren't picked as fursonas. I mean, there's probably some people into that, but most don't like to be food.