Introducing Peanut, The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest Winner For 2014!

Beauty might be in the eye of the beholder, but ugly is definitely in the eyes of the judges at the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. Held annually as part of the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California, the contest pits the world’s biggest canine eyesores against one another. This year’s contest occurred this past Friday, and the winner is…

Meet Peanut, a former shelter dog from the lovely city of Greenville, North Carolina. This poor fellow is a former animal abuse victim who sustained notable facial damage during a fire, reports CBS Local. After spending nine months in an animal shelter, the 2-year-old abused pooch was finally adopted by a Miss Holly Chandler back in July, 2013.

According to Holly, Peanut lost both his lips and eyelids during the fire. Having no eyelids makes it impossible for him to close his eyes. This causes his eyes to water and the tears to run down his face and right into his nose. As a result, he suffers from an inordinate number of ‘snot bubbles,’ not that Holly minds:

“He’s my baby. I guess I don’t see him every day as being that ugly. But I guess the judges thought so.”

Indeed they did! While being known as ugly isn’t exactly the most charming of things that could happen to someone (or some dog), note that the coveted label comes with a whopping $1,500 prize. Even better (and extraordinarily awesome) is the fact that according to My Fox 8, Peanut’s owner Holly plans to use all the money to pay for other animal’s veterinary bills!

Even more amazing is the fact that Holly didn’t sign Peter up for the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest with the intention of winning. Her goal has been simply to “spread his story and raise awareness for animal abuse.”

We are definitely happy for both Peanut and Holly! However, we wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t also give a shout out to his competitors! Speaking of which, below is Quasi Modo, the second most ugly dog in whole wide world (or at least for 2014):

According to the Concord Monitor, she was born with a spinal defect.

Next up is the third ugliest dog in the world, Scamp:

Last, but not least, is fourth place runner up, SeePee Rambo:

Adorable, aren’t they? If you want to see some more competitors from this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, check the video below:

Images via [Google Images]