Way back in June of this year I was just starting out as the new writer for Scribbles N’s Bits and I remember doing a story on the winner of the Annual Sonoma-Marin Fair’s Ugliest Dog Contest. While it may sound like a small time contest, the prize for the honor of being crowned Ugliest Dog was $500 in cash and a spot on CBS This Morning as well as a segment based on the event that was shown on Animal Planet just last month. This year’s winner was none other than a Chinese Crested simply by the name of Gus. Gus’s owner Jeannenne Teed of St. Petersburg , Fl took pride in her pup even though he had no hair, one eye, and only three legs. That was Gus though….ugly and proud of it.

Sadly after months of treatment, a portion of which was paid for with Gus’s winnings, Gus recently lost his battle with cancer.  Indeed Gus had lived a hard life. Rescued by Jeannenne and her family after they learned that the pups previous owner had kept him in a crate in their garage most of his life, Gus seemed to love adventure which consequently led to him losing an eye to a cat that got the best of him.  The lost leg was a result of the effects of the skin cancer and the Teeds attempts at stopping its spread. Unfortunately at the age of nine, Gus lost his battle with the disease.  While there’s little doubt that he is now in a better place, Gus’s family can rest assured that he left this world being the best…and ugliest dog he could be.