The 2016 World’s Ugliest Dog Contest was held on June 24 in Petaluma, California. This contest began in the 1970s and has taken place annually ever since. On the contest’s 25th anniversary in 2013, a book entitled World’s Ugliest Dogs was published, chronicling the winners as well as several contestants.
This year’s winner is a blind Chinese-crested chihuahua named Sweepee Rambo. Sweepee has a tuft of unruly white hair on her forehead, unusually large ears, one blue eye, and one yellow eye, but her owner Jason Wurtz loves her dearly. Sweepee defeated the other sixteen entrants to receive $1000 and a trophy.
A few thousand people attended the contest this year as well as the Dog Lovers’ Festival that took place before the competition. Additionally, a Snapchat story was created exclusively for the contest to allow attendees to share photos and videos of the festival and the competition.
Although the moniker of “ugliest dog” may seem a bit cruel, the contest works to help dogs in need. The contest is partnered with the Sonoma County Humane Society and some of the money raised goes to help rescue dogs. In addition, during the contest, the Humane Society provides information about and opportunities to adopt rescue dogs.
The future of rescue dogs is an important issue to raise awareness about. According to ASPCA estimates, approximately 2.7 million shelter animals, or half of all shelter animals, are euthanized every year because they are not adopted.
Another estimate by the Oxford-Lafayette Humane Society states that approximately 6-8 million animals enter U.S. shelters each year, the vast majority of which are never adopted. There are simply not enough shelters and not enough resources to provide for all the homeless animals in the United States.
Sweepee, however odd she may look, is lucky to be in a home with a loving owner and everything she needs to survive.