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

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.

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.

"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."