Hairless ‘gentle soul' Petunia claims World's Ugliest Dog Contest title
Instead, Petunia rides in someone's arms, her small, hairless body balanced against a loop of pink leash. Fairground trophies shine behind her, but she looks away, folds of skin settling like soft hills along her neck.
Petunia, a two-year-old hairless English-French bulldog mix from Eugene, Oregon, arrived at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, California, not as a polished show dog but as herself.
The World's Ugliest Dog Contest, a decades-old tradition meant to promote the adoption of dogs and remind people that 'pedigree does not define the pet', has never sought perfection.
In this competition, the missing fur, the misaligned teeth, the eyes that wander in different directions – they are not flaws, but badges of honour.
Petunia was one of 10 contestants that sought to join the reign of oddity champions from the past.
In 2024, there was Wild Thang, remembered for a pink tongue forever lolling and glittering eyes set in a tiny head beneath a frizzed crown of brown-and-white fur. In 2023, there was Scooter, a glossy black jelly bean of a dog with a shock of mohawk-like hair.
And in 2022, there was Mr Happy Face, a Chihuahua mix likened to a hyena, a mandrill baboon, or perhaps a gorilla in miniature.
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