Embracing the ugly at the World's Ugliest Dog Contest

The good, the bad and the ugly were on display at the 26th annual World's Ugliest Dog Contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif., on Friday.

But mostly, it was just ugly.

The dogs came from all walks of life: puppy mills, abusive homes, shelters and the streets. You could retrace each pup's life story through the scars, disfigurations and natural deformities.

All of their stories share a common theme: Each was adopted by a loving family that wanted to showcase their beauty (mostly inner beauty) at the World's Ugliest Dog Contest.

Zoomer, who placed second, is from Tucson and was mere hours away from the euthanasia table when he was saved by Saving Animals From Euthanasia and taken into foster care by Linda Elmquist. He was then adopted by Jon Adler.

"If it had not been for SAFE, he wouldn't have a heartbeat," Adler said. "But for as rough of a life as he has had, he bounced back pretty good."

Zoomer, a 5-year-old Chinese crested, is now living the high life with prizes including new bones, tennis balls, toys, dog food and a red ribbon to commemorate his showing.

"I cried when they crowned him, because he was my baby and he was going to be put down within an hour, and now he's an international star," Elmquist said.

She had her own pup, Josie, in the contest.

As for the world's ugliest dog, the grand prize went to Peanut, a 2-year-old a Chihuahua-Shih Tzu mix whose charismatic personality was matched only by his toothy grin and bulging eyeballs, both of which are the result of burns the pooch received as a puppy.

Peanut's owner, Holly Chandler of North Carolina, plans to donate the $1,500 prize to pay for the veterinary bills of animals in need so that others might have the same opportunities as Peanut. In addition to the prize money, Peanut has won national acclaim and will appear on Good Morning America on Monday. Chandler hopes to use Peanut's fame to raise awareness for abused animals.

This year's contest had 29 entrants, each scored by a three-judge panel based on unusual attributes, personality and "overall, natural ugliness."