Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – a sentiment that rang true at this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog contest in California.

This year, 18 contestants competed for the top spot, showing off their droopy tongues, bowed legs, perpetually confused looks and other strange attributes.

The pup that came out on top though was Scamp the Tramp (now Scamp the Champ), a pup of an unidentifiable breed who won an appearance on The Today Show, $1 500 in cash, $1 500 to donate to an animal shelter, and a trophy the size of a Rottweiler.

Here’s The Guardian:

Scamp makes volunteer visits to schoolchildren and a local senior citizens centre. The street dog from Compton was rescued by [Yvonne] Morones in 2014 after she spotted him on Pet Finder.

“It was on the way home that I knew I made the right choice,” she said. “There we were, two strangers in a car on the way home to a new start. Bob Marley was playing One Love and I looked over and little Scamp was bobbing his head. It was like he knew he had found his forever home.”

Here he is celebrating his victory with his mom:

Tramp beat out some pretty stiff competition this year, so let’s take a look at some of the other contenders.

Tee Tee, an unknown breed – possibly the missing link.

Wild Thang, a three-year-old Pekingese:

Tostito, who has no teeth or lower jaw:

Puka has a cleft lip:

Himisaboo, who also goes by ‘Trump Dog’ because of his unfortunate hair.

Rascal, who might be lacking in the looks department but makes up for it with style:

And the winner, again, looking chuffed with his trophy:

The organisers of the event run it to bring attention to the needs of rescue dogs. Most of the competitors were rescued from kill shelters, found abandoned, or seized from criminal breeders.

Puppy parents will know that you love them no matter how fugly they are on the outside. If you’re keen to show your pup some love, you’ll find great doggy treats and spoils at Pet Culture.

Oh, and if you’re looking to adopt a dog, get one from a shelter. TEARS, and the SPCA, are good places to start.

There are beautiful hounds there just waiting for a forever home.

[source:guardian]