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)

Bus 392 stands on the highway running from Beersheva to Eilat, with windows broken following a gun attack on August 18, 2011 near the Israel - Egypt border, Israel. A series of coordinated gun and roadside bomb attacks against miltary and civilian targets near the Israeli - Egyptian border, including an ambush on the bus travellling 20km north of Eilat, are reported to have left 5 dead and many injured. (Photo by Yehuada Ben Itah/Getty Images)

A model showcases designs on the catwalk during Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology and Taiwan Shin Chien University Graduates Collection show of China Fashion Week A/W 2011 on March 25, 2011 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

A Nubian ibex roams the streets during a national lockdown in Mitzpe Ramon, southern Israel, 22 January 2021. Although Israel is one of the first countries to have received vaccines and has so far vaccinated more then two million of its around nine million citizens, the rate of infection with the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus, that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is rising drastically as Israel entered a full closure of two weeks. (Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA/EFE)

A humanoid robot named “Yangyang” shows a facial expression during its demonstration at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) 2015 in Beijing, China, April 29, 20155. The android was produced jointly by China's Shanghai Yangyang Intellegent Robot Science Service center and Japanese professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, with the aim of popularising robotics among the young. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Revellers take part in the annual “Naval Battle” of Vallecas in Madrid, Spain July 19, 2015. The slogan for this year's water battle is “Get wet for Alfon, freedom for Alfon”, referring to Alfonso Fernandez Ortega, a Vallecas resident who was sentenced to four years in prison in June. The festival was started spontaneously in 1981 when some neighbours started to throw water at one another due to high temperatures during the Virgen del Carmen Festival. (Photo by Juan Medina/Reuters)

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)