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Quasi Modo named 'World's Ugliest Dog' at California fair

Quasi Modo doesn't seem to have a neck, and his head and legs are too big for the rest of his body.

By Brooks Hays
Quasi Modo, a 10-year-old pit-shepherd mix, is the world's ugliest dog. Photo by Sonoma-Marin Fair
Quasi Modo, a 10-year-old pit-shepherd mix, is the world's ugliest dog. Photo by Sonoma-Marin Fair

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PETALUMA, Calif., June 27 (UPI) -- A 10-year-old mutt with a variety of birth defects took home the top prize at Friday's "The World's Ugliest Dog Contest," held annually at the Sonoma-Marin Fair.

The hunchbacked dog, named Quasi Modo, is part pit bull, part Dutch shepherd. Now he's part rich -- or his owner is, at least -- after taking home $1,500 in prize money. Contest organizers say the competition is intended to celebrate, not ridicule, deformities and imperfections.

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Quasi Modo has plenty of imperfections. The pup doesn't seem to have a neck, and his head and legs are too big for the rest of his body.

"My appearance can be a little unsettling to some (I have had grown men jump on top of their cars to get away from me because they thought I was a hyena or Tasmanian devil)," the mutt's biography reads, "but once they get to know me I win them over with my bubbly personality."

A variety of mostly hairless mixed-breed Chihuahuas -- in addition to a few scraggly pugs and crooked-smiled bulldogs -- placed behind Quasi Modo. Many of the runners-up have won the contest before, some multiple times. And while the title of world's ugliest dog may change from year to year, the positive messaging remains the same.

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"You should never judge a book by its cover!" says Quasi Modo. "Just because an animal or person looks different doesn't mean they're any less deserving of love. It's OK to be different."

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