Max is looking for a Happy New Year

This is Max, our latest Sula dog. He and his foster family have been waiting very patiently for a spot in our program, and with two recent adoptions, we're finally able to welcome him into the Sula family. Max is a young male, still a little shy with strangers, but quite playful and friendly once he gets to know people. He gets along so well with his foster sister that we think he'd probably like to go to a home with another female dog to follow around.

Meanwhile, our recent adoptees are enjoying the holidays in their new homes. Congratulations to Luna (a former cruelty case from the LA/SPCA) and Louis (a three-legger from Jefferson Parish).

Our own New Year's plans include a vaccination and spay/neuter clinic in the Lower Ninth Ward on January 9th, followed by plans for clinics in Algiers and Bywater. Funding for these events comes from our calendar sales, so thank you to all who have chipped in already. If you still need some calendars for holiday giving, we're filling orders as fast as they come in (and if you order by 12/20 we should be able to get it to you by 12/24.) We also have these holiday events and pawtographings coming up:

Thursday 12/17: Holiday Happy Hour at The Transportation Revolution, 901 Julia Street at Baronne, 6-8pm (with Fido, Mr. March...and complimentary wine and food)

Saturday 12/19: Bywater Art Market, Markey Park, 9-4pm

Annie makes her television debut

It was inevitable. After charming her way across several states before settling into her new life in New Orleans, Annie has modeled in a fashion show, appeared in our calendar, made the local society page and inspired our first greeting card. Breaking into television was the next step.

The Pit Bulls of New Orleans 2010 Calendar

There's still time to order for New Years! Orders received by 12/28 should arrive via Priority mail by 12/31.
The 2010 Calendar features two dozen dogs in locations all over town. (You can preview some of the photos on Facebook.) You can order it online, or pick it up at Canine Connection, Canine Culture, Petcetera, Beth's Books, Garden District Bookshop, The Transportation Revolution, 45 Tchoup, FAB, Neophobia, Snake and Jakes, Juan's Flying Burrito, Fair Grinds Coffee House.

Two holiday pawtographing events: 12/17 at The Transportation Revolution, 901 Julia, from 6-8pm; 12/19, Bywater Art Market from 9-4.

Just $18 plus $4.95 postage, with proceeds going to continue our work. You can use a credit card via the PayPal button below, or send a check to The Sula Foundation, PO Box 3780, New Orleans, LA 70117. (Or via Amazon, if that makes you more comfortable, although we earn less with Amazon sales.)

Calendar plus shipping

1 Calendar $18.00 2 Calendars $36.00 3 Calendars $54.00 4 Calendars $72.00 5 Calendars $90.00 6 Calendars $108.00 7 Calendars $126.00 8 Calendars $144.00 9 Calendars $162.00 10 Calendars $180.00

Babe at Bud Rips

Babe was found wandering the Lower Ninth Ward last fall after we returned from a hurricane evacuation. (He had formed a pack with the English bulldogs Harold and Maude, who we also rescued.) Babe was fostered at Zeus' Place and there he fell in love with Charity and her beagle, Hubig Pie. So, of course, they're all living together now. In this shot from our 2010 Calendar, Babe makes a very confident first visit to a bar. (And somehow manages to look twice his actual size.)

If you haven't ordered your calendar yet, get on it! And pick up a few for your family and friends too.

Send holiday greetings with Annie

When we saw this photo from our calendar photo shoot, a greeting card was born. If you ordered your calendar already, you'll find our thanks inscribed on this card. And soon you will be able to order a set of cards to send your own holiday wishes.

The cards are 5.5" x 4.25" and the inside reads "Here's to getting everything you wish for..." The back features a small photo of Annie in her Oklahoma kennel and the details of her rescue.

Annie card bundles

8 Cards with envelopes $12.00 15 Cards with envelopes $20.00 20 Cards with envelopes $24.00

In Memory of Houndy Girl

(The following update was included in one of our newsletters several weeks ago; if you would like to be on our mailing list, you can sign up on the upper right of this page).

It is hard to believe that three months have passed since we brought you the news of the "largest dog fighting bust" in US History. Even harder to fathom: the majority of those dogs are still being warehoused in St. Louis, awaiting the moment when they might be allowed to go to rescue. The numbers of dogs kenneled there have grown as those who arrived pregnant have now given birth to puppies. It makes us even more grateful for the efforts of Bad Rap, who invited us to join them in evaluating a small group of dogs who were fortunate enough to land at the Claremore Animal Shelter in Oklahoma. Eight of the twelve dogs there went to rescue, including our own Annie, who has been happily unwinding and enjoying an increasing social calendar that includes playing chase with Doug and wrestling with Beast, a four month old puppy that lives down the street.

Houndy Girl, pictured above with Ken Foster, wasn't one of the lucky ones. We don't have video of Houndy, because she was too busy kissing and sitting in his lap for Ken to get anything. But she passed her evaluations, and then waited for a possible placement in a foster home. During this waiting period (because there just aren't that many qualified homes waiting to take in a fight-bust dog), Houndy demonstrated some issues that hadn't been seen in the evaluation. In particular, she was fearful of women, in much the same way that many dogs who have been abused are fearful of men. She also didn't know what to think of children. Both of these are things that can be worked with, but with so few homes available, and so many other dogs waiting, the decision was made to give Houndy some special time and care, and then put her down.

It is important to recognize the limitations we have in saving these dogs; and it is even more important to recognize that their failures were not their own. Molly Gibb, who took good care of Houndy and called in tears when the decision was made, has a great, honest essay about the experience at the Bad Rap website.

But we also want to remember the others we met there, none of whom had any of the human aggression so often assumed in fighting dogs. In addition to Houndy, we lost Black Dog, Bailey, and Scarface.

Rest in Peace.

National Pit Bull Awareness Day, Saturday October 24th

This Saturday is National Pit Bull Awareness Day and we'll be celebrating all day long in New Orleans.

The day starts at 11 with a walk along the Moon Walk in the French Quarter; we'll meet at the Mint (facing the French Market) and walk along the river and through Jackson Square.

From 11-12:30, Ken Foster will be signing books at Tisket a Tasket in the French Market.

From 12-3 we'll be station the Gallery Rinard on Royal Street, so be sure to stop by and meet a variety of well-trained pit bulls who will be taking shifts in the gallery and walking through the Quarter. We'll have information and resources on hand too.

And from 4-8pm, we'll be uptown with our adoptable dogs at Canine Connection's Barktoberfest, 4920 Tchoup.