Eight-year-old Pekingese dog Wild Tan has won this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog competition.
This year’s competition, held during the 2024 Sonoma Marin Fair in Petaluma, California, featured eight contestants, most of whom were dogs rescued from shelters before finding their forever families.
Wild Son, from Coos Bay, Oregon, has competed in the World’s Ugliest Dog competition five times, but this is his first time winning.
Wild Tan’s unique appearance is the result of him contracting canine distemper when he was a 10-week-old puppy.
- author, Rachel Lucker
- role, BBC News, Washington
The disease caused his teeth to stagnate, his tongue to hang down and he developed muscle problems in one of his legs.
The World’s Ugliest Dog contest has been running for nearly 50 years and, according to its website, “celebrates the imperfections that make every dog special and unique.”
Wild Son and his owner, Ann Lewis, will receive $5,000 and will appear on NBC’s Today Show.
Roma, a 14-year-old wheelchair-bound pug, won second place and $3,000 in prize money in his first appearance in the competition.
“I like that [the competition] “This dog represents dogs that are imperfect and imperfectly perfect,” Rome’s owner, Michelle Grady, said.
Another first-time dog, a 14-year-old white-coated rescue mutt named Daisy Mae, won the third-place title and will receive $2,000.
She was rescued from the streets at age 2. She had lost her hair, her teeth and her eyesight.
Daisy Mae’s owner, Elizabeth Whitehouse, said it was a surprise to make it to the podium.
“I thought she would be the most beautiful ugly dog, but at the end of the day, other people don’t see her beauty as much as I do,” she said.
Fans voted online to select one dog as the winner of the People’s Choice Award, with Roma winning after coming in as the judges’ runner-up.
This annual contest highlights the importance of adopting any animal.
According to the contest, this isn’t about making fun of “ugly” dogs, but “having fun with their amazing characters and showing the world how beautiful these dogs really are.”
This year’s judges included NBC News correspondent Gadi Schwartz, human rights advocate Linda Whiton Abraham and California’s 34th Secretary of State Fiona Marr.
This year’s entries included a Chihuahua mix, a Chinese Crested mix and a Pug mix.
One of the contestants who did not win was Freddie Mercury, a rescue dog who was taking part in the competition for the first time this year.
Described as having a “face like a forklift,” Fred spends his days as the mascot for a local ice cream truck in Petaluma.
He also attends youth football games and makes special requests at birthday parties..
