Sande Riesett had a comfortable job in advertising when, in 2011, she heard about a horrifying case of animal abuse in Baltimore. And then another, and another.

All three involved cats or dogs being tortured or killed—by children.

“I was so appalled,” says Riesett, “I couldn’t even function. As somebody who grew up with dogs and cats, I couldn’t imagine anybody doing this to an animal, let alone a child. So I wanted to do something. I had to do something.”

After Riesett met Caroline Griffin, an anti-animal-abuse advocate, the two formed Show Your Soft Side (SYSS), which began as an awareness campaign using posters in the Baltimore Public School system.

“The idea was to feature true tough guys showing a soft side for their cats and dogs,” she says of the posters, which featured sports stars with their pets, including Orioles players Adam Jones and Manny Machado and Ravens players Jarret Johnson, Ronnie Stanley, and Daniel Faalele.

The organization, which became a nonprofit in 2013, has expanded its services to include a hotline for tips leading to the arrest of animal abusers. They’ve also established funds for emergency medical care for cats dumped or born on the streets, and to help support Maryland rescues, especially in the wake of COVID-19, when many shelters became inundated with abandoned pets.

Run entirely by volunteers, SYSS operates mostly in Baltimore City, but also sends materials to schools, teachers, and youth groups around the country, and has set up pet adoption events in markets other than Baltimore.

“I feel really proud,” says Riesett, who adopted three former street cats, “because we are small, we’re all-volunteer, and we’ve been able to pivot quickly if we see a need.”

When a spate of animal cruelty cases rocked Baltimore five years ago, Sande Riesett was horrified, especially because much of the violence had been perpetrated by teens. In response, the former advertising exec co-founded Show Your Soft Side, a public service campaign of photos of macho celebs cuddling with animals, accompanied by the slogan “Only a punk would hurt a cat or a dog.”

“It was really obvious that these kids aren’t going to listen to me,” says Riesett. “The people they look up to are big, strong athletes, rappers, rockers. So I just kept wondering if we could get them involved would [that] maybe [make] the kids take more notice.”

More than just the kids took notice. “Our big goal was to maybe raise enough money to put posters in city schools,” says Riesett. “Within weeks, we had over $200,000 worth of free media.”

Participating “softies” include everyone from Adam Jones of the Orioles and MMA fighter John Rallo, to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and former Raven Torrey Smith.

On May 13, Show Your Soft Side will host Pawject Runway, a cocktail party/fashion show at Royal Farms Arena in which softies will “model” adoptable pets from Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter (BARCS). All proceeds will benefit BARCS and Riesett promises a good time. “How can you not have a good time when you’ve got a glass of wine in one hand and a kitten in the other?”