World’s Ugliest Dog Winner
You know the expression, “so ugly it’s cute?” That could certainly be said of Mr. Happy Face! He is the winner of the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest this year. This guy is a little “ruff” around the edges, mostly bald, and has a lazy tongue, but dang he looks lovable.
I remember when we adopted our Zoey, because she is part pit and a brindle, some people would be afraid of her, just from her exterior. Strangers would cross the street to avoid her. More than a few compared her to a hyena. They didn’t see her huge and warm heart. She was honestly the sweetest, quietest puppy at the adoption event, where we first met her. And there were about 40 puppies there. Here is my Zoey.
The World’s Ugliest Dog Contest took place this past Saturday, at the Sonoma -Marin Fairgrounds, located (ironically) in Petaluma, CA. It’s been going on for 50 years, and is a very popular attraction at the fair. The Ugliest Dog Contest winner’s human is Jenada Benally, who told the Sonoma-Marin Fair, “Mr. Happy Face joined our family in August of 2021. He was adopted from a shelter in Arizona. During the pandemic, I had hoped to either have a baby or adopt a dog. Since having a baby would have been an act of god, I opted to adopt a dog. When I arrived at the shelter, I asked to see a particular dog that, fortunately for me, had just been adopted. I asked if there were any other dogs that were similar to that one. There was in fact, another dog there who was much older and had health issues and I was warned could be inbred because he was so ugly. The shelter staff tried to prepare me for what I was about to see. I saw a creature who was indeed old, needed a second chance and deserved to be loved. Mr Happy Face was born into our family at the age of 17 years old. The shelter had this particular dog for quite some time. He came from a hoarder’s house where the conditions were deplorable. He was a survivor of abuse and neglect. I remember reading about the home where he had been rescued from. Dogs had survived off of anything that they could. Mr. Happy Face came to us with the veterinarian letting us know that adopting him would be an act of hospice for this decrepit old dog who would need life long medication. The veterinarian had suggested that because of his tumors and multiple conditions that we might only have him for a few weeks, maybe a month. When I first met him, he was the happiest creature that I had ever met. He hobbled up to me and chose me. I vowed that day, he would be so loved that he would never remember how awful his previous life had been. Love, kindness and mommy kisses have helped him defy the anticipated short life that we all expected him to have with our family.”
The 'World's Ugliest Dog' contest takes place Petaluma, California, and 'Mr. Happy Face,' was crowned the winner pic.twitter.com/qI46uoeiSS
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 27, 2022
A Chihuahua mix named Mr. Happy Face won the 2022 World’s Ugliest Dog contest out of a field that included a "hairless mutant," a creature that resembled "a hyena or mandrill baboon" and a dog with a "gorilla-looking head," contest organizers said.https://t.co/JqKX5OdPQT
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 25, 2022
