Gus, the one-eyed, three-legged pooch who was rescued from a bad home and went on to be deemed the world's ugliest dog, has died. He was 9.
That's according to the St. Petersburg Times. The Chinese crested dog had been suffering from cancer.
Gus competed against 11 other dogs to win the annual World's Ugliest Dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Northern California this summer.
Gus came from humble origins: According to the fair, his adopted family in Gulfport rescued him after learning he was being kept in a crate inside someone's garage.
He had one leg amputated because of a skin tumor, and lost an eye in a cat fight.
After winning $1,600 in prize money, Gus' owner said it would be put toward the dog's radiation treatment.
He was bald, except for a white plume on the top of his head. Liver spots freckled his pale skin. He had one bulbous brown eye (the other had been claimed years ago, in a cat fight) and wobbled on three spindly legs.
He was Gus, the world's ugliest dog.
The tiny, hairless Chinese crested, whose owner lives in Gulfport, was crowned in June at the Sonoma-Marin County Fair in California and quickly became a worldwide celebrity. He was flown to New York, featured on the Today show, Fox & Friends, Rachel Ray. Animal Planet ran a special on him last month.
Monday morning, the world's ugliest dog died in his owner's arms. The skin cancer he had been battling had wrapped around his spine. He had lost half his weight and was in a lot of pain, said his owner, Jeanenne Teed. On Monday, when he began struggling to breathe, she knew she had to put him down. Gus, who she had rescued as a puppy, was 9 years old.
"He took me to amazing places," she said through tears. "Who would have thought, that one little dog with no hair ..."
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