Posted: November 13, 2008, 5 a.m. EST
Gus, the spotted, one-eyed, three-legged dog who drew worldwide attention as the winner of last summer’s 20th Annual World’s Ugliest Dog competition at California’s Sonoma-Marin County Fair, has died.
The 9-year-old Chinese Crested from Gulfport, Fla., succumbed after a long battle with skin cancer. The dog had already lost his leg to the disease, and an eye had been removed years ago after a battle with the family cat.
Owner Jeanenne Teed had adopted the wart-covered dog as a puppy from a neglectful owner, who Teed says kept the dog locked in a crate inside the garage.
Teed used the Ugliest Dog prize money – $1,600 – to help pay for Gus’s medical bills.
Despite Gus’s title, Teed never considered her dog ugly.
“Gus just has the best personality,” Teed told Animal Planet television recently. “He is strong, sweet, and lovable. I have never really thought of him as ugly, and even now, looking at the videos, I feel like he must have bamboozled the judges.”