Meet the Brains Behind Baltimore’s Popular Anti-Animal-Abuse Campaign

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.”