Chinese Crested named Scooter is new 'world's ugliest dog'
MANILA, Philippines — A seven-year-old Chinese Crested canine named Scooter is the newest winner of the annual World's Ugliest Dog competition.
Scooter won a trophy and a cash prize worth $1,500 (P82,900) at the World's Ugliest Dog of the Sonoma-Marin fair in California, United States which has been staged for almost half a century.
A six-year-old "gugly" (gorgeous and ugly) Pekingese named Wild Thang finished second, the dog's fourth time competing for the title.
A 16-year-old deaf-blind Chihuahua named Harold Bartholomew came in third and won the Spirit Award, given to contestants that have overcome obstacles or are serving the community.
Online voters selected Rascal Deux — a hairless dog with a crooked face, missing teeth, and two different-colored eyes — for the People's Choice Award.
Previous grand prize winners include mutt Scamp the Tramp in 2019, shepherd-pit bull with a hunchback Quasi Modo in 2015, and beagle-basset-boxer Walle in 2013.
Chinese Crested dogs like Scooter, however, have won the title at least 10 times since the turn of the millenium.
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Despite the title, the competition promotes the adoption of dogs, highlight dogs that defy adversity, and celebrate imperfections.
According to TODAY, the hairless Scooter was born with deformed hind legs (backward joints) and saved by the Saving Animals From Euthanasia (SAFE) rescue group as his breeder was prepared to put him down.
Scooter walks on his front legs and has tired easily over the years, using his hind legs as a tripod when resting. He recently got a cart which aids him in moving at a more regular pace.
One man from SAFE took Scooter in but the dog was later adopted by another SAFE member Linda Elmquist, who frequently checked on him and took him to medical appointments, and who looks after Scooter to this day.
"He has no idea that he has a defect and he was born that way and he is full of self-confidence," Elmquist told the media outlet. "He stands up to the bigger dogs where he could easily get beat up."
Elmquist added that Scooter, with his perpetually hanging tongue, is a good doggie that is "full of self-confidence, loves everybody, and has a really good heart."
Last year's edition was the first time the World's Ugliest Dog contest was hosted after the COVID-19 pandemic, and saw Mr. Happy Face — a hairless Chinese Crested-Chihuahua mix with a crooked grin, a white mohawk on a tilted head, tumors, neurological issues, and mobility difficulties — getting the title.
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