If you wind up in Baltimore for the MLB playoffs, don't be surprised if you see Harlem Globetrotter (And The College of NJ grad) Derick 'Dizzy' Grant (below) and MMA fighter John Rallo (above) with their dogs looking at you from Only a Punk would hurt a cat or a dog billboards.
The billboards are part of the city's Show Your Soft Side anti-abuse campaign. "A campaign created in response to the alarming incidence of animal abuse in Baltimore. The Mayor’s Anti-Animal Abuse Task Force was created in July 2009 after a young pit-bull terrier – who was subsequently called Phoenix – was doused with gasoline and set on fire in broad daylight in West Baltimore."
“Show Your Soft Side is a campaign developed to combat the alarming incidence of animal abuse in Baltimore. Many of the more horrific cases have been perpetrated by teens, thus leading the Mayor’s Anti-Animal Abuse Advisory Commission to look for ways to change the mindset of young people who often view the maiming and torturing of defenseless dogs and cats as a sign of “toughness” or “manhood”. The campaign puts forth a very different message – a message that subtly shows that “being a man” has many facets to it, including a “soft side” when it comes to animals. The goal is to reach kids early because research shows that kids who abuse animals soon graduate to even more violent crimes. Featuring acknowledged hard men of Baltimore with their pets, the campaign’s posters, billboards and print ads make the point that only a punk would hurt a cat or dog."
A ton of Baltimore area athletes (that's Orioles catcher Matt Wieters with one of his babies above) got involved. Scroll the pics.
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