Score one for the uglies!
A 2-year-old Chinese Crested-Chihuahua mix named Elwood with a face only a mother could love took home the coveted title of “World’s Ugliest Dog” at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif., on Friday.
Elwood, who is owned by Karen Quigley of Sewell, N.J., is dark and hairless, with orange-peel-like skin on his face, which is topped by a sliver of silver hair that whisks toward the top of his head in a mohawk.
“I think he’s the cutest thing that ever lived,” Quigley told the Associated Press.
This was Elwood and Quigley’s second trip to California to appear in the unique annual competition, which garners media attention from around the world.
Quigley says she rescued Elwood after a breeder was going to euthanize the dog because he was “too ugly.”
Elwood, who took second place in last year’s competition, also won a $1,000 prize for the honor after beating both the 2006 and 2002 winners.
To learn more about the "World’s Ugliest Dog" Contest, visit www.sonoma-marinfair.org.