# World's Ugliest Dog Contest The World's Ugliest Dog Contest is an annual event at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in California where unconventional-looking dogs compete for a cash prize and a trophy. Running since the 1970s, the contest turned winners like 2018's rescued English bulldog Zsa Zsa into viral celebrities, sparking recurring online debates about whether the champions are hideous or secretly adorable. ## Origin The World's Ugliest Dog Contest has been running annually in the fourth week of June since the 1970s and became part of the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in California in 1988, making 2018 the 30th year under the fair[1][2]. The contest attracts entrants from around the world, and for several years was sponsored by and aired on Animal Planet[5]. The event picked up a stronger online presence in the early 2000s when the Sonoma-Marin County Fair began hosting online voting, though the voting is non-binding and the actual winner is picked by in-person judges[5]. The contest has also been featured in a book, World's Ugliest Dogs: The Official World's Ugliest Dog Contest Book, and in an hour-long documentary called Worst in Show[5]. - **Platform:** Sonoma-Marin County Fair (offline) / Twitter and news coverage (viral spread) - **Creator:** Sonoma-Marin County Fair - **Date:** 1970 ## Overview The World's Ugliest Dog Contest is a yearly competition held during the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in Petaluma, California, where owners parade dogs with droopy jowls, lolling tongues, missing fur, bulging eyes and other distinctive features past a rotating panel of judges[2]. The winner takes home a trophy and a cash prize, which was $1,500 by the 2018 edition[1]. A majority of recent champions have come from shelters, rescue groups or former puppy mills, and organizers use the event to push shelter adoption rather than mock the animals[2]. Online, the contest works less as a format and more as an annual news beat. Every June, press photos of the newly crowned winner spread across Twitter, Reddit and news aggregators, and users split into two reliable camps: those who find the dog grotesque and those who insist the dog is actually cute[5]. That recurring split, plus the always-quotable backstories about puppy mills and dog auctions, keeps the contest a dependable viral animal story even in years without a breakout star[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is World's Ugliest Dog Contest? It is an annual competition at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in Petaluma, California, where dogs with unusual looks compete for a trophy and cash prize, with the 2018 winner receiving $1,500[1]. ### Where did World's Ugliest Dog Contest come from? The contest has been running since the 1970s and became part of the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in 1988, holding its 30th fair-era edition in 2018[1][2]. ### What does World's Ugliest Dog Contest mean? It is a judged event, not an insult, that highlights rescued or formerly mistreated dogs and is used by organizers to promote shelter adoption, since many winners come from shelters or puppy mills[2]. ### How do you use World's Ugliest Dog Contest? Online, people share wire photos of each year's winner and argue over whether the dog is actually ugly or cute, as seen with @BrandyLJensen's and @lppny's reactions to Zsa Zsa's 2018 win[5]. ### Is World's Ugliest Dog Contest still popular? The contest is still held yearly at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair and still draws major press coverage, as with NPR's 2018 report on Zsa Zsa's win and Today show appearance[1][5]. ## References 1. [https://www.npr.org/2018/06/25/623179026/ooh-zsa-zsa-rescued-bulldog-wins-ugliest-dog-contest?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20180625]() 2. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_Ugliest_Dog_Contest]() 3. [http://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Ugliest-Dogs-Vicki-Dearmon/dp/0762792558]() 4. [http://worstinshowmovie.com/]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/worlds-ugliest-dog-contest]() 6. [http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/other/videos/top-10-worlds-ugliest-dogs/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/worlds-ugliest-dog-contest Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library