World’s Ugliest Dog 2016 Is A Chihuahua-Chinese Crested Mix Named Sweepee Rambo [Images]
From the archive: published Jun 25, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Every year, a whole bunch of ugly dogs get together in hopes of winning the prize as the World’s Ugliest Dog. This year was no exception, and among the hideous looking mutts, one was just that much uglier than the others.
Enter Sweepee Rambo, a wispy-haired, bony, wrinkled, and ancient blue-eyed Chinese-crested Chihuahua mix. Weighing in at a mere four pounds, Sweepee is all of 17-years-old and is blind in both eyes.
As reported by CBC News, naturally the ugly mutt is much loved by her owner and also ended up being a favorite among the crowds at the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest on Friday night at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif.
The winner of #theworldsugliestdogcontest is #SweetPeaRambo!! #worldsugliestdog #ugliestdog #Petaluma #sonomacounty pic.twitter.com/CYfaemgh91
— NorthBayBreweryTours (@70760BREWS) June 25, 2016
According to the fair’s marketing director, Karen Spencer, the audience went wild for the little blue-eyed dog and there were reportedly even signs waved around reading, “Sweepee for President.”
Spencer explained that Sweepee’s owner is Jason Wurtz of Encino, Calif. and he was reportedly swamped with reporters from all over the world, including France and Germany, that night and was not immediately available for comment.
As reported by the New York Times, hair seemed to be a prominent “thing” this year, as reportedly of the 16 dogs entered in this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, more than half featured bad hair. Among the names of the mutts were such classics as Icky, Rascal Deux, Roast Beef, and Rue.
Among the other dogs was Zsa-Zsa, a 7-year-old English bulldog rescued from a puppy mill. Most of the contestants were either rescue mutts or also retrieved from puppy mills in the past.
Rascal Deux, another Chinese Crested but this time from Sunnyvale, California, also had a weird thing going on with the hair.
There are three judges on hand who award points based on the dogs’ appearance, their personalities, and the reactions of the audience.
There is one strict rule, however, and that is the “animal must not have been intentionally altered to enhance appearance for the purpose of this contest.”
As reported by the Inquisitr, last year’s World’s Ugliest Dog was Quasi Modo, who had short spine syndrome. At the time the dog’s owner Virginia Sayre, said Quasi had to move her entire body to look at anything, as she couldn’t move her head.
Quasi made a break from the usual Chinese Crested type of ugly dogs, as she is an 11-year-old Dutch shepherd and pit bull mix.
In Sweepee’s case, her owner got to win $1,500 along with a rather spectacular looking six-foot trophy, pictured below. Hope he could fit it on the motorcycle.
