RUSTON, La. (AP) - Louisiana Tech University hopes to welcome its new live bulldog mascot onto campus by the start of the new school year, which begins Sept. 5.
Jim King, vice president of student affairs, tells The News-Star eligible breeders of English bulldogs have been identified and a caregiver family has been selected.
Now the university waits for approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture so it can move forward with finalizing the arrangements and, of course, choosing the puppy that will go on to represent all things Louisiana Tech.
The previous live mascot, Tech XX, a 4-year-old English bulldog, died from a heat stroke in July 2012 after a now-former employee at Sexton Animal Health Center, where Tech XX was being cared for, left him outside too long.