Ailing Gus, world's ugliest dog, put down

GULFPORT, Fla., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A Florida woman says she is mourning the loss of Gus, her Chinese crested who had the honor of being the world's ugliest dog.

The St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times said Tuesday 9-year-old Gus was put down this week in a losing battle against skin cancer.

"He took me to amazing places," Jeanenne Teed told the newspaper. "Who would have thought, that (about) one little dog with no hair."

Gus was certainly a sight, being completely bald and with a battered eye that was the result of a fight with a cat a few years ago. He was selected world's ugliest dog last summer at a county fair in California.

The publicity led to a whirlwind tour of U.S. television shows and even a special on the Animal Planet television network.