I wouldn't share a link with my colleagues that contained any cartoon emoting at all, because they would find it (and by association me) infantile and cloying,

I wouldn't share a link with my colleagues that contained any cartoon emoting at all, because they would find it (and by association me) infantile and cloying, and I would expect that assessment, in a professional setting. The species or art style is not, for me, the heart of the issue; it's just that people in my line of work are generally not receptive to this method of communication. This same sector of the world would also not respond well to, say, shorts and t-shirts in the office, for almost exactly the same reasons. There is no way in hell I will ever be able to change this, but I would be able to effectively destroy my own credibility by posting links to cartoon-annotated technical articles. My online sphere of interactions includes both furries and otherkin and we generally get along fine. I don't like that this sort of boundary matters, but it does, and I'm not in a position to do anything about it.