Congrats to Hairless Scooter, Crowned World’s Ugliest Dog
Scooter is a 7-year-old hairless Chinese Crested dog with some issues: a shock of unruly gray hair (the “crest”), a tongue that’s always hanging out his little maw, and a pair of hind legs facing the wrong way. Because of all that, Scooter has been crowned this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog. Congrats.
When Scooter was born with deformed back legs, his breeder turned him into animal control in Tucson to be euthanized. Fortunately the aptly named Saving Animals From Euthanasia rescue group did what it does, and Scooter was saved.
“From the second he sits his hairless little booty and backward legs on your lap, you feel his warm, huggable power to change the meaning of the word ugly!” Scooter’s owner Linda Celeste Elmquist tells TODAY.com. Elmquist says the pooch’s big win was “so perfectly deserved!” Aside from his strange back legs, he is just like any other dog. Favorite snack: braunschweiger sausage.
The BBC dove a bit deeper in the story to ask, “Why Do We Love Ugly Animals?” The short answer: humans have evolved to find infantile features – big eyes, large heads, soft bodies – appealing. It’s an adaptation that probably prods us to be better caregivers for our babies.
A lot of the ugly doggos in the contest do look a lot like helpless infants. Many, like Scooter, keep their tongues out and proud. We assume that, as with babies, there’s a fair amount of drooling.
Check out all the ugly doggies at the contest website. As far as we’re concerned, they’re all winners.
Sonoma-Marin Fair
Photo credit: Sumiko Moots
