To respond to @RQ and yourself, I need to remind you that the fluffy pony fandom was borne out of the brony fandom. So yes, it is true that MLP, and by extension fluffies, were designed with girls in mind but the immense success of G4 MLP was also due to the very unexpected demographic of young adult males who loved the show. Its a reason why pony pet is a tag on derpibooru, as some bronies did and still do want their own MLP character as a pet, and many elements of the fluffy fandom are derived from this concept, such as My Little Dashie. Thus, the appeal of fluffies is not just little girls owning them, but also the young males who have taken a liking to them.
I wonder what is the ratio you’re working with. Personally speaking, I think of fluffies as more akin to cats and dogs, with the idea that not only little girls but also young adults (and especially men) taking a liking to them, based on the idea that existence was spawned out of a young male demographic wanting to own a 'real life version" of a cartoon variant.
While I do agree that pet animal abuse is a real thing, its both uncommon and frowned upon in our modern society. Its the approach I go with because a lot of hugboxers in the booru’s past, I find, treated fluffies as being similar to pets, save for their limited ability to talk. I think its an angle thats not fully explored as people other assume or focus on the negatives associated with fluffies.