World's Ugliest Dog Contest 2011

Usually, we here at Petside don't judge animals by their looks, as the beauty of animals (as with all things) is really in the eye of the beholder. But when another outside source objectively deems something to be ugly? Well, we can kind of be on board with that, as was the case in a rather curious contest which took place last week at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair.

The contest: World's Ugliest Dog. The goal: to sift through a series of pups blessed with more inner-beauty than outer and determine which was ugliest. And boy, were there some major contenders in this year's contest.

In the end, the winner (or loser, depending on how you look at things) was a Chinese Crested-Chihuahua mix named Yoda.

In earning the right to claim the title of World's Ugliest Dog, Yoda earned a rather handsome prize of $1,000.

That's a nice blessing for not being blessed with outward beauty.

For more, check out our slideshow of the Ugliest Dog Contestants.