World's ugliest dog dies weeks after winning title
A nine-year-old English bulldog has died just weeks after winning the 2018 World's Ugliest Dog contest.
Owner Megan Brainard of Anoka, Minnesota, told NBC's Today that Zsa Zsa died in her sleep on Tuesday.
Brainard said the dog was staying with her father and he found she had passed away when he got up in the morning.
Zsa Zsa - with her floppy tongue, crooked teeth and pink manicure - won the annual contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, California, on June 23.
Brainard said Zsa Zsa never really showed much excitement, but that she knew she was special.
The Brainards told the competition's organisers that Zsa Zsa was a "puppy-mill dog" for five years in Missouri. She was sent to a dog auction and later bought by Underdog Rescue.
"From the moment we saw her beautiful face, we knew we would be her forever home. We are so excited for her, she deserves this," they said, according to the competition's website.
Dogs in the annual competition flaunt their imperfections.
The contestants included a blackhead-covered Chinese crested-dachshund mutt, a bulldog mix with excess wrinkly skin and a Pekingese named Wild Thang.
AP, Fairfax Media