As for why werewolves dominate Western and European cultures. To me, I always though of it as being the human connection with dogs, which is by far, the strongest of all animal-people co-evolutionary relationships. We've shaped dogs so greatly that they can read our facial features, which is no small task for an animal whose face, anatomically, is quite different from ours. And here in America, this connection seems pretty emphasized. "Everyone" always wants a dog. The nuclear American family goal is to have a beautiful golden retriever. Wolves provide a familiar, but 'stronger' form of the dog, though I'd go out on a limb to say we've bred some pretty big livestock guardians that would give a wolf a run for its money. And more people tend to like dogs than cats (and that's probably a socially influenced thing). Since I have no preference for either, and view both as perfectly beautiful human companions and fluffy babies, I think its one of the dumbest showdowns humanity ever created. But, it does ring true that most people I've met-friend, stranger, acquaintance-have preferred, though not necessarily actually liked, dogs over cats.

Trust me when I say, plenty of people who love werewolves know very little werewolf lore beyond the full moon or the silver bullets. I actually include myself among these people, but my desire to roleplay animals (which has died down, admittedly due to the furry fandom; sorry to furries, but I'm not comfortable being associated with that group just from enjoyment of online roleplaying anthro animals) stemmed from a love of animal life and nature, as opposed to mythology or lore. I'm sure a lot of other people come from the same background as me, and just enjoy playing werewolves for that particular reason, especially since they tend to be less associated with furries, and more socially acceptable. I myself used to occasionally extend beyond werewolves, but today, since they're the most easily accepted, I tend to stick to werewolves (not that I don't like them do; I love 'em!). I have joined and read extremely wonderful multi-animal anthro rps before, but not since childhood. Either way, they do exist, but coming from the perspective I do, I think the werewolf's social acceptance also plays a role in its popularity.