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.

A huge colony of Pacific Walrus on Arakamchechen Island in the Northern Bering Sea. (Photo by Francois Gohier/Ardea/Caters News)

A man wearing a floral arrangement on his back takes part in the annual flower parade, in which flower growers known as “silleteros” present their floral arrangements, in Medellin, Colombia, August 9, 2015. (Photo by Fredy Builes/Reuters)

A man takes a dip inside a chapel during celebrations of the Orthodox Christian feast of Epiphany in Saint Petersburg, Russia on January 19, 2020. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

Children carrying guns and flags or wearing Soviet-style uniforms have become a common sight at Victory Day parades and other events in Russian-controlled Crimea. Russian and Ukrainian human rights activists have warned that such displays point to a growing trend of promoting Russian patriotism among kids on the Crimean peninsula, annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Here: A young Crimean girl wears military-type clothes during a Victory Day celebration in Sevastopol on May 9, 2018. (Photo by Oleksandra Surgan/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

A participant wearing a costume and make-up attends a Halloween parade at Walibi park in Wavre, Belgium, October 25, 2019. (Photo by Yves Herman/Reuters)

Revellers are sprayed by a water cannon during a street party called “Bloco Das Barbas” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on February 18, 2023. Hundreds of street parties traditionally take place every year in the city before and during Rio de Janeiro's carnival. (Photo by Carl de Souza/AFP Photo)