The 17-year-old Chinese Crested Chihuahua with bowed legs, an oozing sore and wearing doggie diapers took home the $1,500 (Rs 1.01 lakh) prize.
A 17-year-old blind Chinese Crested Chihuahua named SweePee Rambo, whose legs are bowed out like a frog, has an oozing sore and wears doggie diapers, has been crowned as the World’s Ugliest Dog this year.
SweePee Rambo took home the title of top dog at Petaluma’s World’s Ugliest Dog contest in his third attempt.
Her blonde mohawk glistening in the sun, legs bowed out like a frog, SweePee was a crowd favourite at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, Petaluma, California, where 16 malformed pooches paraded for the annual, infamous honour in front of an audience.
It was the 28th year for the contest, which scores dogs based on bad appearance, including stench, poor complexion and a host of other inherited and acquired maladies.
For SweePee’s third run at the grand prize, owner Jason Wurtz, 44, drove seven hours north from Encino in a van packed full of fans and relatives.
When the Chinese Crested Chihuahua mix was announced the winner on Friday night, Wurtz burst into tears, shouting SweePee’s name and shaking a homemade sign that read ‘SweePee Rambo for President 2016’.
The champion, SweePee, was a four-pound pup and in much better shape when Jason Wurtz got her as a gift for his first wife. She put up with the ugly mug for a week before swearing off the dog.
Wurtz, however, said he could not bear to let her go, calling her a “ride or die chick” in the description he wrote for the contest.
An aged ‘lady’ now, she is blind in both eyes and wears doggie diapers. And she really cannot do much walking, so Wurtz carries her around.
Along with their first-place title and trophy, the two will take home a prize of $1,500 (Rs 1.01 lakh)-- money Wurtz said would go toward removing a tumour that has recently popped up on SweePee’s gum line.
The winner last year was Quasi Modo, who had short spine syndrome, a birth defect.
