By: Alyssa Hong

Scooter, a seven year old Chinese Crested dog, won the contest for Ugliest Dog in the world contest in The contest is held in Petaluma, California as part of the Sonoma-Marin fair each year. His body is hairless, but he has a thin mane of spiky, white hair. His back legs face backwards, which makes it impossible to walk, and his tongue hangs out of his mouth constantly. His unique looks won him the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest.

The Ugliest Dog in the world contest has been running for over 50 years. Despite the not-so-nice-sounding name of the contest, it is not to make fun of ugly dogs. Instead, it serves the opposite purpose. The contest is held to celebrate the uniqueness of each and every dog. The contest is also held to encourage people to adopt dogs that need a loving home.

Scooter is certainly very unusual. In fact, one of the judges said, “In the cutest way possible, he kind of reminds me of a hairy hippopotamus.”

Scooter may be in good hands right now, (not to mention a star), but things were not always so nice for him. He was born with his back legs facing backwards, which made them useless for walking around. A volunteer from an organization from a group that works to protect and help animals thought Scooter might make it even though She was right. Amazingly, not long later, he learned how to walk on his two front legs. He can even jump to get up on a curb or go up stairs.

However, it is still difficult for him to walk on his front paws for long. So, when he gets tired, he will sit down. But, recently, he was given a cart with wheels that attach onto his rear end, making it easier for him to get around.

Gaudi Schwartz, one of the judges, says Scooter has a “warm, huggable power to change the meaning of the word ugly.”