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Ugliness wins the day - 15th July 2022

This year's victor of the World's Ugliest Dog Contest is Mr Happy Face – a hairless, 17 year old, Chinese crested dog, which overcame stiff competition from nine other unattractive-looking rivals at the decades old event in California.

The pooch was taken in last year by musician Jeneda Benally.

Jeneda Benally: "Every dog deserves their day and I think that it's a huge win. Not just for Mr Happy Face, but I think, I think that so many times in this world we see the ugly in things. And with some kindness and compassion, we can make this world so beautiful."

Even though he's afflicted with a range of ailments, this mutt has a penchant for snoozing – an activity frequently accompanied by woofing and snorting – and he's also prone to emitting bizarre sounds when animated. This world title can now boost his accomplishments further.

Amongst the other contenders for the coveted award was Wild Thang, belonging to Anne Lewis, who'd also had her eye on the prize.

Ann Lewis: "Yea, he's a 'glugly' dog, a glamorous ugly dog. They should have a coated and non-coated competition. But he’s, we, this is our 3rd competition. Last year he got second, and so he's going to go for first this year."

Michelle Grady and her canine companion Jinny Lu were competition newbies. Jinny was adopted following her recovery from a mountainside cow shed in South Korea, suffering from neglect. Her owner, Grady, had evidently been counting on her dog's most remarkable defining feature to carry her to victory.

Michelle Grady: "Her tongue is great, and we're hoping it will win, it will win her the award. Yeah, so we’re excited to be here, it's our first time."

In honour of the individuality rendered by such imperfections, the organisers of the world-renowned contest invite dogs of any form under the sun, and for spectators such as Cincinnatus Hibbard, the experience has encouraged him to re-evaluate the notion of 'cute'.

Cincinnatus Hibbard: "It really, it really is stretching, expanding my whole concept of cute. And I think, I think any one of us can be cute, you know – ugly or beautiful."