“World’s Ugliest Dog Competition”
Not wrongly: Jury chooses Mr. Happy Face as the “ugliest dog in the world”
Introducing Mr. Happy Face, the newly crowned winner of the World’s Ugliest Dog Competition in Petaluma, California
© Josh Edelson / AFP
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” is an old adage. With Mr. Happy Face, however, all viewers should be pretty much in agreement: the mongrel is really ugly. That was also found by a jury in California.
Naked instead of fur, only a white tuft of hair on the head and a crooked tongue hanging out: The Chinese crested dog mix Mr. Happy Face has been voted the ugliest dog in the world. The fun competition in the US state of California took place again on Friday evening (local time) for the first time after a two-year Corona break.
Mr. Happy Face owner Jeneda Benally from Arizona was also able to make a happy face after the victory of her four-legged friend against seven competitors. First place in the World’s Ugliest Dog Competition brought her $1,500 in prize money.
The jury of the bizarre competition in the small town of Petaluma attached importance to everything that is considered unsightly: googly eyes, crooked teeth, bowlegs, hunchbacked backs. The organizers want to use the event to promote the taking in of abandoned animals. They want to remind people that “all dogs are lovable,” it says.
The competition draws a lot of attention in the United States each year, and the winning dogs and their owners often appear on national television shows afterwards.