Gus the dog is anything but a beauty queen, but on Saturday he won a contest for his looks.  The World’s Ugliest Dog of 2008 is a three-legged, one eyed, Chinese crested dog, named Gus.  The Chinese crested dog is a popular breed in the contest; in fact eleven of the seventeen contestants for this year are of this breed.  (See all there pictures here)

The World’s Ugliest Dog contest has taken place each year in Petaluma, California since 1976, and each year many people gather to look at faces of dogs that only a mother could love.  It’s kind of like a bad car wreck, these dogs are so disgustingly ugly, but you can’t look away.

There are numerous sites on the web that showcase photos of the cutest, cuddliest pets.  So why do people care about the ugly ones?  I suppose that just as beauty is celebrated throughout the media, it would be only fair to display the ugliness as well.  Many magazines at the checkout line in the grocery stores have photos of celebrities on the red carpet in all their glory, and they also have photos of celebrities looking their worst, without any makeup or fancy clothes.

American culture will continue to celebrate the cutest of the cute pets, but there will always be a special place in our hearts for those truly ugly dogs.