Sam, unofficially the “Ugliest Dog Ever,” from Santa Barbara, California, not only brought fame to the Sonoma-Marin County Fair World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, but also highlighted the importance of compassionate services like Your Service Animal, which helps connect qualified patients to therapists to assess whether an emotional support animal, and an ESA letter is clinically appropriate.
Winners of this award today receive cash prizes, trophies and often find themselves in position to make public appearances of all types from local venues to national programs. National media outlets cover the events and take special note of the winners and their life stories.
Additionally, because most of the winners of World’s Ugliest Dog Contest (last 7 in a row) are either purebred Chinese Crested or Chinese Crested mixed with Chihuahua, this breed has grown in interest and more people are looking for information on the breed and its origins.