An 8-year-old Pekingese is the winner of this 12 months’s World’s Ugliest Canine Contest.
Wild Factor received first place on the World’s Ugliest Canine competitors in Petaluma, Calif., Friday, June 21, 2024.
Nic Coury / AP
That is the primary victory for Wild Thang, a 5-time competitor within the annual occasion held on the Sonoma-Marin Truthful within the northern California metropolis of Petaluma. The Pekingese, whose proprietor Ann Lewis obtained $5,000 in prize cash, positioned second thrice earlier than popping out on prime this 12 months.
Along with his lengthy and very fluffy coat and stick-out tongue, Wild Thang, who grew up in Los Angeles however now resides in North Bend, Ore., was considered one of eight canines vying for the celebrated title on Friday night. (In accordance with a spokesperson for the competition, there have been 10 contestants, however two dropped out. Wild Thang was a late entry to the lineup, which is why he’s not featured on the principle net web page for this 12 months’s competitors.)
“Wild Thang was a fan favourite,” stated California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, one of many judges, in an Related Press video on the occasion. “The truth that he had been competing for 5 instances and solely got here in second [until now], sort of just like the bridesmaid and by no means the bride, actually tugged at our heartstrings. He deserved to win.”
Ma added some enjoyable details about Wild Thang.
“He is by no means had a haircut,” she stated. “He likes to sleep on ice packs, consider it or not. And he’s only a candy canine.”
Wild Thang and proprietor Ann Lewis after profitable first place in 2024.
Courtesy of Will Bucquoy / NPR
A lot of the canines within the contest, which has been happening because the Nineteen Seventies, are rescues. In accordance with his biography on the honest’s press website, Wild Thang contracted distemper from a rescue foster when he was younger. “He survived, however not with out everlasting harm,” his bio states. “His enamel didn’t develop in, inflicting his tongue to remain out and his proper entrance leg paddles 24/7.”
“This world-renowned occasion celebrates the imperfections that make all canines particular and distinctive,” states the World’s Ugliest Canine Contest web site. “The annual World’s Ugliest Canine Contest just isn’t about making enjoyable of “ugly” canines, however having enjoyable with some fantastic characters and displaying the world that these canines are actually stunning!”
An aged pug in a wheelchair named Rome got here in second, profitable $3,000; Daisy Mae, a mixed-breed canine with a white coat, took the $2,000 third-place prize.
Final 12 months, the competition was received by Scooter, an almost-bald, 7-year-old Chinese language Crested canine, with reversed hind legs.
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