Ugliest Dog Dies: Yoda's Celebrity Status
The world's ugliest dog has passed away in her sleep, at the age of 15. Her touching story has prompted others to challenge her "ugly" title.
"Yoda" a Chinese crested and Chihuahua mix, won a $1000 prize last year after claiming the title of "The World's Ugliest Dog" in Petaluma, Calif. The dog passed away in her sleep last weekend, according to the Associated Press, although the word is just catching on now.
The once proud owner, Terry Devine Schumacher, has said that she will miss Yoda's "funny little ways." Schumacher's daughter found the mutt in a field behind an old apartment building when she was only two years old.
Schumacher also revealed to the Hanford Sentinel that she was at least "comforted knowing she will be joining my mom and dad, who loved her so much. Her memories will live on forever."
Yoda was not always so well loved. When the dog was first discovered, Schumacher told her daughter to drop it, confusing the Chihuahua mix for a rat. Yoda's charming bad looks however, would one day take her to minor celebrity status.
After winning the title for "The World's Ugliest Dog" Yoda went on to appear on several different television programs. Yoda will maintain her celebrity status until June, when the next "World's Ugliest Dog" is named.
Of course, no one is likely to forget the world's first ugly little dog, who had faced difficult times until being rescued. Making national television was a big step for the dog who once had no home.
Some fans, who were touched by Yoda's story, said the dog was not so ugly at all.
"I don't like Ugly Dog contests. All dogs are special no matter what and I thought Yoda was cute," Beaudine de Massy said on the New York Post blog. "So nice to know Yoda had a comfortable long life after being abandoned in a field probably neglected and left to die because of her unique looks."
