Compassion to Animals is a Strength – Show Your Soft Side

Trigger warning: This article discusses animal cruelty cases that some readers may find distressing.

Show Your Soft Side is a national anti-cruelty campaign. The Baltimore-based initiative started after a trilogy of horrific animal cruelty cases, all perpetrated by juveniles. A dog named Phoenix was intentionally set on fire, a nursing cat was likewise set on fire, and a 10-week-old puppy was beaten to death on a public golf course.  

In each instance, boys had acted together, and it almost appeared as if they viewed the torturing and killing of animals as a rite of passage for proving their manhood. Some of the perpetrators were teenagers, but in one case, they were only 10 years old. I was chairing the Mayor’s Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory Commission when Sande Riesett, an advertising creative director, asked if we could meet and brainstorm how to deter these brutal crimes.  

We sought to change this deviant behavior by using role models that youth admired and even idolized – professional athletes. Sande recruited Leo Howard Lubow, a talented photographer, and Lori Smyth, a dog lover who worked at a local TV station with connections to the sports world.  We were outraged and sought to create an effective and unsentimental campaign to stop this cruel and senseless violence against dogs and cats.

The Messengers

With nothing more than a desire to help animals in Baltimore, we photographed three local professional athletes who loved their pets: Adam Jones of the Orioles, Jarret Johnson of the Ravens, and John Rallo, an MMA fighter. Our budget paled in comparison to our lofty goal of deterring animal cruelty, and we simply printed posters for Baltimore City schools with the provocative tagline: Only a Punk Would Hurt a Cat or Dog.  

After launching the campaign at a press conference, we went out to dinner, and our phones started to beep. The images were crossing the country and even the globe. Our message resonated with young and old alike and proved that compassion for animals is not weakness, but rather, strength.  

Changing Mindsets

We were not researchers or teachers, or even parents ourselves. Somehow, though, we were onto something bigger, and we incorporated as a non-profit in 2013. Demand for our posters continued, and we shipped them free of charge to teachers and schools around the country.  

Our small team also recruited more ambassadors for the campaign, whom we fondly refer to as “Softies.” While professional athletes remain the backbone, we recruited other tough, influential guys, such as rocker Tommy Lee of Motley Crue, and actor Jon Bernthal, an ardent pit bull advocate.   

We also recruited prominent women, such as actress Kaley Cuoco and singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert, who are passionate dog lovers as well. All told, we have photographed 275 celebrity Softie ambassadors around the country.

Teachers praise the campaign, as the posters are a positive reminder for students, and a catalyst for discussing the humane treatment of animals. As one educator in New Jersey noted in a recent podcast, “This is such an easy lift . . . I’m very proud of this campaign,” which teaches compassion and anti-bullying.  

Our message to youth extends beyond our posters. We partnered with the Institute of Human-Animal Connection at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work, which crafted two lesson plans specifically for use with the campaign. And a local expert created our “Gotcha Day” program, a fun and interactive after-school program that demonstrates to kids ages 6-12 that animals are individuals with distinct personalities and needs.  

As co-founder, Sande often notes, we strive to build a better world for animals, and in so doing, build better adults.

Being a Voice for the Voiceless

Our campaign resonates with adults as well, and we use our voice to advocate for the better treatment of animals. For many people, animal cruelty is simply too disturbing to even contemplate, and the campaign has been an effective tool for bringing awareness and resources to this cowardly crime without making people turn away.

Each year, we testify in support of animal protection bills in the Maryland General Assembly, and at times, our Softies have joined us well. In 2018, our legislature considered “The Beagle Bill,” which would require research facilities to take reasonable steps to rehome dogs and cats after their time in research has ended. Softie Torrey Smith, a former Raven and two-time Super Bowl Champion, agreed to be photographed with a former research beagle for a billboard campaign with the simple message, “We Support the Beagle Bill.”  

We testified and distributed posters to every legislator. Thanks to the support of many organizations, the bill crossed the finish line and was even strengthened this past legislative session.

Covid Threw Us a Curveball

As with so many nonprofits, COVID brought Show Your Soft Side to its knees. We had been crisscrossing the country, spreading our message and recruiting celebrity ambassadors, and sharing our materials with schools and the animal rescue world.   The pandemic descended on us all, and our work came to a screeching halt.

While we initially despaired, we quickly grasped that people were not the only ones suffering from the pandemic; animals were suffering too. Many animal shelters—which normally operate as safe havens for stray and injured animals—closed to the public, veterinary clinics stopped performing spay/neuter surgeries and other routine care, and countless people endured food insecurity for themselves and the pets that shared their homes.

We pivoted and expanded our mission and programming to also help the most vulnerable animals in Baltimore, a city that faces many challenges, including a poverty rate of 20%, the highest in Maryland. We doubled the budget for our Street Kitty Medical Fund and became the sole resource in Baltimore for homeless cats needing urgent veterinary care.  

We also created the Phoenix Fund, named in memory of the dog that initially inspired our campaign, and began awarding grants to Maryland rescue organizations that pulled neglected and abused animals from shelters. Pet food companies donated thousands of pounds of pet food, which we distributed to people in need. 

While we now spend the bulk of our resources on our medical funds, we remain laser-focused on stopping animal cruelty. We host annual trainings for law enforcement officials, sponsor a statewide animal cruelty reward fund, and fund evidence collection kits for animal control officers in Maryland.

With challenge comes change, and we emerged as a bigger and better organization after COVID. We no longer worked solely to stop animal cruelty; we also worked to alleviate the suffering of homeless animals.

What We’ve Learned

After 15 years, we’ve learned two important lessons. First, it’s important to work with people who are different from us.  Sande, Lori, and I had vastly different work experiences, and our diversity was our strength. We all looked at the problem of animal cruelty differently, and the spark emerged when we put our heads together. Similarly, each subsequent Board member has brought a unique set of skills. Show Your Soft Side is an organization where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Second, this work is hard. Really hard. There were so many setbacks along the way.  Sometimes the greatest challenge is simply showing up. When we were demoralized—which happened monthly for years—we often went out for a simple dinner, which restored us. Giving up is not an option. There are simply too many unmet animal needs in every community.

We Hope You’ll Join Us

Show Your Soft Side is no longer a campaign, but a movement. Although our reach is far, we remain a small, all-volunteer organization, so that donations more fully support our programs. We hope people will continue to support us, follow us on social media, and share our message, which is universal. Compassion for animals is indeed a strength, and together, we can create a world where animals are protected and cherished.  You can visit our website at www.showyoursoftside.org