It's that time of year again when dogs with unusually large heads, hairless bodies and other oddities compete to be the World's Ugliest Dog. This year's winner? A 2-year-old mutt named Peanut, whose wild white and brown hair, bulging eyes and protruding teeth belie his sweet, energetic personality. Peanut's owner, Holly Chandler of Greenville, North Carolina, says he was seriously burned as a puppy and she wants to use her pet to raise awareness about animal abuse. She plans to use the $1,500 prize to pay for other animals' veterinary bills. The contest, held at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds in Petaluma, California, is in its 26 year. The dogs are scored by a three-judge panel in several categories, including special or unusual attributes, personality and natural ugliness.

Hooded demonstrators vandalise a shop window in Mexico City, during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Tlatelolco student massacre, on October 2, 2018. Fifty years ago, Mexican troops opened fire on student demonstrators, killing hundreds just days before Mexico City hosted the 1968 Olympics – one of the darkest episodes in a year of global turbulence. (Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP Photo)

A former Gurkha (special forces soldier), Nirmal Purja, takes a selfie at the start of his attempt to scale the world’s 14 highest peaks in seven months to break a 31-year-old record. Nirmal Purja, known as Nims, aims to smash the current record – which stands at seven years, 11 months and 14 days – set by Polish climber Jerzy Kukuczka. On the way, he also plans to defeat at least seven speed world records on mountains over 8,000m high. (Photo by Nirmal Purja/PA Wire Press Association)

A life-size replica of a Diplodocus dinosaur watches people coming out of the subway in the city center of Bochum, Germany, Monday, August 12, 2019. The exhibition, featuring models of 33 dinosaurs all around the city center, is in Bochum due to the discovery of an 316 million years old dinosaur track found in a stone pit in the city six years ago. (Photo by Martin Meissner/AP Photo)

A woman wears a face mask on her chin and walks past a cake depicting the coronavirus on display at the annual cake show organized as part of new year celebrations in Bengaluru, India, Tuesday, December 29, 2020. India's confirmed coronavirus cases have crossed 10 million with new infections dipping to their lowest levels in three months, as the country prepares for a massive COVID-19 vaccination in the new year. (Photo by Aijaz Rahi/AP Photo)

A selection of hand-made leis, traditional Hawaiian necklaces made of flowers and worn mostly on special occasions, fill a cooler at Lin's Lei Shop in the Chinatown district of Honolulu, Hawaii December 22, 2015. Hawaii, whose economy depends heavily on tourism, sees a brief lull in visitors each year in January and February. But in addition to the usual tourist destinations, the state shows a unique overlay of mainland U.S. culture atop tropical beauty year-round. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

A sushi restaurant staff member holds the cut tail of the auctioned 212-kilogram Bluefin tuna after the New Year's first auction of the Toyosu Market, at the Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera in Tokyo, Japan, 05 January 2023. Yukitaka Yamaguchi, president of wholesaler Yamayuki, and the company operating the Sushi Ginza Onodera restaurants, secured the first tuna auction of the New Year with a bid of almost 257,000 euros (36.04 million Japanese Yen). (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)

Molly Swindall, 30, who travelled from the United States to meet Moo Deng for the third time, reacts as she takes a selfie with the one-year-old female pygmy hippo, who became a viral internet sensation last year, and her mother Jona, at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)