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A Soft Side Christmas Story
His eyes were constantly sore and irritated, because his fur scratched his corneas each time he blinked. His eyelids curved unnaturally inward and he needed surgery to correct the condition. There is little hope for injured street cats and those with medical conditions. Yet, “Big Daddy” was one of the lucky ones, for a kind
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Prison Cats
The brochure caught our attention. “Help! Rescued Cats Sent to Prison. What are you in for?” We immediately set out to learn what the cats needed at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women (MCIW) in Jessup. As it turns out, the prison’s 3-year old Rescue Cat Program has been a lifesaver for older and less
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The Road To Oxford & Back
I recently returned from a humane education conference at the Oxford Centre on Animal Ethics with our colleagues from the Institute for Human-Animal Connection (IHAC), who crafted a humane education curriculum specifically for our campaign. We presented to an international audience of educators and scholars about Soft Side’s efforts to stop animal cruelty and IHAC’s
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Another Throw Away Cat
The message from Dawn popped up on my phone at 5:19 PM. “I was just feeding one of my colonies and I came across a cat that has apparently been hit by a car. It was under a parked vehicle and the poor thing was crying and can barely move. There is an injury to
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Sweating Bullets
Anybody who knows me, knows I’m a worrier. It’s a tendency that usually reaches a fevered pitch at around 3 am. Anytime we’re coming up an on event, I bolt awake right around that time and immediately start going down the list of all the things that could possibly go wrong. No problematic stone goes
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Soft Side Goes International
We all have a love/hate relationship with social media, but it has made the world smaller for people and better for animals. In fact, animals may just be benefiting more than any other sector in the non-profit world. Take, for example, Lainey Charter, a Canadian graphic artist who helps several animal organizations in Ottowa, where
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This Cat’s Legacy: Helping Others
We all know that Sande Riesett, co-founder of Show Your Soft Side, is the first person to cheer on others’ good and generous works — especially when those people are good and generous to animals. Sande is a little quieter when it comes to tooting her own horn — but that horn deserves a whole
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Riding The Rescue Railroad
I’ve seen the posts a few gazillion times. “Can anybody transport a dog from here to there?” “Who can pick up a kitty at such and such an address?” I’ve seen them, I’ve even shared them, but it wasn’t until this past week, I had any clue about the breadth and depth of the
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Justice For Those With No Name
There are moments that both define and change the trajectory of our lives. For Martha Smith-Blackmore, DVM, it was the moment she laid eyes on Puppy Doe. As a shelter veterinarian, Smith-Blackmore had seen her share of neglect and abuse, but nothing prepared her for the cruelty she witnessed in 2013, when she was asked
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The World Needs More Cat Guys
An urgent email came in from Melissa, my husband’s co-worker of nearly 3 decades. Her son Zac had rescued yet another kitten from her husband’s job site and the employees at the company needed help stat. “I can’t stand the thought of so many cats there that keep reproducing and the risks associated with that.
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