She might not be a Hollywood starlet, but Zsa Zsa the English bulldog won her greatest role after being crowned 2018 World’s Ugliest Dog during a contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California on Saturday, reports the New York Daily News . The 9-year-old had some stiff competition in the annual San Francisco Bay area contest, but she prevailed to take home the $1,500 prize money. Her proud owner is Megan Brainard, who made the long trip from Anoka, Minnesota to prove her dog could take the title. The previous year’s winner was Martha a 125-pound Neopolitan Mastiff.
The contest was held on a Saturday, unlike past years where it was held on Friday, in a bid to gain more people in attendance. The competition was stiff this year for Zsa Zsa. Her 14 competitors included Wild Thang, a Pekingese; Mrs. Kravitz, a Chihuahua; Meatloaf, a bulldog mix; Josie, a Chinese Crested mix; and Himisaboo, a Chinese Crested and Dachshund mix. Despite the hair-raising stress of such a close race to the ugly finish, Zsa Zsa proved she had what it takes to prevail.
“Judging was based not just on appearance, but personality, too, which Zsa Zsa clearly has in spades. That being said, crazy eyes, crooked tails, weird walks and tongues that kind of hang there were all important to judges,” reports ABC7News .
Wild Thing’s owner, Ann Lewis, thought her Pekingese was poised to take top honors. She told ABC7News that “a friend of mine said it’s the ugliest dog she’s ever seen so as a joke we put him in and all of a sudden he was a fan favorite for a while.” The new site also reported that some of the dogs had a Hollywood pedigree, having appeared in movies, TV shows, and even some music videos, which meant they already had a built-in following.
Of course, one person’s ugly is another person’s beautiful and despite their outsides appearing untraditional, these dogs are all obviously loved by their people. With this year’s contest now in the record books, it’s time to start thinking about next year’s. If you don’t already have a dog you’d like to enter, then consider heading down to your neighborhood shelter to adopt your new family member. With July 4 celebrations coming, shelters will be looking to empty out their current occupants to make room for those who will be brought in after the fireworks. The loud celebrations scare dogs and many get loose and run away, and when they are found, they get dumped in the shelter.
