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Pekingese dubbed Wild Thang wins world’s ugliest dog contest

By
Social Links for Lauren Elkies Schram
Published June 22, 2024, 7:22 p.m. ET

It’s not always bad to be ugly.

The World’s Ugliest Dog contest has picked a new winner this year — an eight-year-old Pekingese with a dangling tongue named Wild Thang.

The pooch, who looks a bit like Chewbacca, entered the competition with seven other contenders at the 2024 Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, Calif.

Most of the canines were rescues that once lived in shelters before being adopted by families.

A brown-haired Pekingese with a tongue dangling.
Wild Thang was crowned the “World’s Ugliest Dog.” AFP via Getty Images
A woman holds a dog in one hand and in the other, an oversized check made out to "Wild Thang" for $5,000, while a man holds a big trophy behind her.
Wild Thang was given a $5,000 check as the winner of the World’s Ugliest Dog contest. AFP via Getty Images
A pug in a wheelchair walks a red carpet.
Rome, a 14-year-old pug in a wheelchair, was the silver winner. AFP via Getty Images

Wild Thang, who calls Coos Bay, Ore., home, has tried to win the World’s Ugliest Dog competition five previous times, but this was his first victory.

Thanks to his weird looks Wild Thang ran away with the crown, $5,000 and a trip to New York to be on NBC’s “The Today Show.”

When the dog was just 10 weeks old, he suffered from a disease that blocked him from growing teeth and caused his tongue to dangle from his mouth.

One of his legs also had a muscle ailment.

Rome, a 14-year-old pug in a wheelchair, came in second place and won a prize of $3,000.