You might be interested in arranging to be at
MFF under a media pass (see the Photography and Video Filming section of
this page). MFF is a furry convention in the suburbs of Chicago, and it's probably your best opportunity to meet a large group of furries in your area. Unfortunately, the next MFF will be in November; it'll be quite a long wait.
If you don't want to wait that long, you may also be interested in seeing if anybody in
LAFF might be interested in meeting with you. LAFF is a large furry group local to the Chicago area, and some people from there might be willing to meet with you (but see the paragraph below first).
A warning: furry as a culture tends to be media phobic. More likely than not, you will end up with considerably fewer interviews than the size of the pool of individuals you ask might otherwise suggest, particularly if you seek interviews from LAFF instead of MFF (the latter has escorts for media persons and, from my understanding, a vetting process for such individuals, which offers interviewees a sense of trust of the interviewer's intentions). Also, in the case of LAFF, you may have better luck talking to the head of LAFF directly about this (I don't know who he/she is off the top of my head) and/or asking them permission to post your request to the mailing list.
I hope that helps.
