Who We Are at

Alika Cotons

Robert Jay Russell, Ph.D., is a doctor of Anatomy and Zoology. In 1973, he discovered and exported the Coton de Tulear breed from Madagascar in 1974 and 1975 during his two year field study of nocturnal lemurs. As a scientist, author, breeder, and founder and President of the Coton de Tulear Club of America, he has worked intensely with this special breed for more than 34 years.

Laurie Spalding-Russell, Vice-President of the Coton de Tulear Club of America, is devoted to this breed. She has worked selflessly for years to rescue Cotons and carefully cares for and evaluates each pup.

The Russells have devoted their lives to the Coton de Tulear and are the most visible supporters of the breed in the world, operating help telephone lines available to everyone and providing more information through their publications (newsletters, email lists, scientific monographs, The Official Coton de Tulear Book, etc.) and web sites than any other source of breed information.

The Russells long term goal is to see the breed effectively managed through a CTCA program of intelligent genetic triage (a "cooperative not competitive gene pool"), to see every Coton pup placed in a loving home, to see owners empowered with knowledge to help their Cotons and to insure that an effective and compassionate rescue program is in place.