(From right) Bev Nicholson of Peterborough, England reacts as her Chinese crested dog, Mugly, wins the title of "World's Ugliest Dog" against Dane Andrew and his dog, Rascal, and Kathleen Francis and her dog, Princess Abby, during the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California, on Friday, June 22, 2012. (AP Photo/The Press Democrat, Beth Schlanker)
PETALUMA, Calif. - Maybe the name helped. A rescue dog from the United Kingdom named Mugly has won the annual World's Ugliest Dog contest.
The 8-year-old Chinese crested won $1,000 and a year's worth of dog cookies by beating out 28 other ugly dogs from around the world.
"I couldn't speak when they announced Mugly's name," said Bev Nicholson, the dog's owner. "I didn't know which way to look. I was shaking as much as the dog."
Nicholson said Mugly also was named Britain's ugliest dog in 2005.
Organizers at the California event say the dogs are judged on their "natural ugliness in both pedigree and mutt classes."
Last year's winner, Yoda, was a Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix.
