Well if they weren't excited about it then they shouldn't of picked the dog as it clearly stated by doing so it unlocked bestiality and all fetishes are avoidable in the game. I ignore people like that who bitch about something that's avoidable in a game and if they can't read then oh well.
Suppose you started to play at the beginning of development. You meet Lindsey on train, she's attractive girl, there's a promise that there will be something more with her, that's what you want to see. Then there's Anny, the main story with the transformation starts, still all great. Fast forward a year or so and even when the game was still going, what's the progress of this? Barely any. If you wouldn't like bestiality (most people don't), wouldn't you see the dog (avoidable or not, it doesn't matter) as unnecessary waste of developer's time?
It's not abandoned last post from them on their patreon was March 9th.
Maybe not abandoned, but definitely stuck. He's awfully quiet, but then what can he say when people want results and there aren't any. Number of patrons and money came down, so it futher limits the time he can spend on game if he needs to feed a family. Less time, less results, it's really bad circle.
Even if we skip the whole 3D fiasco, previous change to make it more free-roaming style was a mistake too. I was excited by it back then, because it
could be great. But it's much more difficult than simple VN with only few branches and choices. If he'd go back to that, there's perhaps a chance that it can end well.