Meet Gladys, Perry and Marisa

In the past month or so, we've had several of our dogs go to wonderful new homes, including the ever-popular Blue, Ohio hoarding-case survivor Kianna, deaf Mississippi hoarding survivor Peggy, and, happily, the delightful Dusty, who has been with us for more than a year and now gets to share a home with two children. Of course, all of that means it is time to take in a few new dogs. Meet our newest trio:

Perry

Perry is a young male who is a bit shy around strangers. He was lucky enough to be chosen for the LA-SPCA's "All-Stars" program, funded by Animal Farm Foundation. The program provides six weeks of training while the dogs are included in the adoption program at the shelter; unfortunately, Perry didn't get much interest from the public, so we were happy to take him and give him more time to get socialized and ready for a home.

While we were evaluating Perry, we couldn't help

Gladys

noticing Gladys, a blue brindle girl who had been dropped at the shelter by someone who had offered to take her once the five-day hold was up. But they never came back. Gladys is heartworm positive, and will be treated in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, she is proving to be quite a charmer--and we suspect she may even enjoy the company of cats.

Marisa

Last, but certainly not least, we have Marisa, who was the victim of abuse in St. John Parish, where the shelter is not allowed to adopt out pit bulls. Once Marisa's court case was finished, the shelter employees contacted us to see if we could take another dog. Despite her abuse, Marisa LOVES people, does quite a happy dance, and provides more kisses than we've received (from anyone) in a long, long time.

If you find yourself doing a bit more of your shopping online in the heat of the summer, please remember that you can generate donations to The Sula Foundation just by shopping via www.iGive.com. Hundreds of shopping sites, including Barnes and Noble, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Gap and common brands--will donate up to 10% of your purchase.
In our last newsletter, we showed off the special Sula collar designed by Paco Collars. Now, Paco Collars and Fetching Tags will donate 20% of any purchases of their collars, leads, leashes and tags. Just use the code LASU01. Thank you!

A few weeks ago, we joined LiteracyCorps/ Americorps to bring dogs to the Even Start program in Marrero. Among the dogs volunteering that day: our wonderful dogfight-bust survivor, Annie, who has been living with a family since January. Annie loves her own two kids, so having a bunch of strangers line up to read to her was a great way to spend the day.

It is hard to believe a month has passed since Sula's passing, and with that milestone comes...hurricane season.  The LA/SPCA has a great page of tips for hurricane preparation; in short: be sure you know several places that you can evacuate to with your pets; have crates ready for each animal; bring copies of vet records; have their favorite food and toys on hand (or pre-packed through the season); and be sure your animals have collars and tags as well as microchips for identification.  Speaking of collars, we're thrilled with the gorgeous Sula collar that was launched yesterday by Paco Collars.  Paco collars create exquisite, hand-crafted leather leads, collars and leashes.  "The Sula" features a diamond pattern modeled after our Sula's white diamond marking on the back of her neck.  A portion of all sales of the collar will be donated to The Sula Foundation, and through June 7th, 20% will be coming our way.  Check out "The Sula" and other collars at their website; they may be a little more than you are used to spending, but they are worth every penny.  Some additional uplifting news: two of our foster girls, Blue and Kianna, were adopted this week, and we have several more adoptions in progress.  Because we're slow careful with our adoption process, we've changed the name of our "adoption days" to "open houses," and we invite people to meet our available foster dogs, learn more about the breed, and share ideas about our ongoing work on behalf of the pit bull.  Our next Open House will be held: Saturday, June 5th Noon-2pm Freret Market Freret and Napoleon Avenue Another upcoming event: On Saturday June 12th, we'll be taking some of our foster dogs, as well as a few graduates, to team with Literacy Americorps to help a group of all-ages with their reading skills.  The dogs will sit and listen, without judgment, while students practice reading aloud.  We'll send out more information on this next week, but if you are interested in volunteering with us for this or other events, please be sure that we have your volunteer application on file by contacting volunteer@sulafoundation.org.  We're also working on a program to assist the pets and families of fishermen (and fisherwomen) affected by the Gulf Oil spill.  And...be sure to check out the website for the soon-to-open NO FLEAS market, where you can clean out your closets and earmark the proceeds to go your favorite local rescue organization.  (May we suggest The Sula Foundation?) That's it for now.  We hope to see you soon.