Sonoma-Marin Fair

Many thanks to
Sheraton Petaluma for providing the rooms
for our celebrity
judges and guests!

See more photos! Go to our Facebook site
Media if using these photos, please credit Grace Chon/Shine Pet Photos
and link to www.worldsugliestdogcontest.org.

To see even more photos from our official event photographer
Grace Chon of Shine Pet Photos, visit www.shinepetphotos.com

NEW WINNER ANNOUNCED FOR 2010


Princess Abby declared the winner.	The moment Princess Abby was declared the winner. From left to right: Dane Andrew and Rascal, previous winner from 2002; Judge Christina Moore, this year’s winner Kathleen Francis holding Princess Abby, Judge Brian Sobel, and 2009 winner Pabst and his owner Miles Egstad, and 2010 emcee Actor and comic Jon Reep.

Winner of World’s Ugliest Dog ® Contest:
Rescue Dog from Lake County, California

Petaluma, California (June 25, 2010)—Californian Kathleen Francis took home $1,600 Friday night after her dog Princess Abby won the 2010 World’s Ugliest Dog ® Contest before a packed crowd at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma. Princess Abby is a Chihuahua with a hunched and peculiar walk due to that her back legs are longer than her front. She also has a missing eye, mismatched ears, and an audience-pleasing ability to dance on her two hind feet for treats.

Francis said that Princess Abby was rescued off the streets of Clear Lake by the Humane Society five months ago. When the Humane Society found her she was malnourished and flea-infested. When Francis spotted her, she promptly adopted her.

“She’s my best friend. Abby’s done more for me that I’ve done for her,” said Francis who recently fell on hard times and works at a local department store for minimum wage.

Princess Abby won the Pedigree Class from a large field of 14 dogs before going up against the winner of the mutt division, a Terrie mix known as Chopper--a dog that comic and contest emcee Jon Reep said was “so hairy if he was dropped in the gulf, he’d absorb all the oil himself.” She then went on to beat the former year winners Pabst from 2009, a boxer with a compelling underbite and Rascal from 2002 who now appears in horror movies.

Karen “Doc” Halligan provided vet checks for all of the contestants before the event. After Princess Abby’s win, she said, “Princess Abby is the poster child for spaying and neutering your animals. Her looks probably stem from being inbred.”

The contest had three celebrity judges: Television celebrity and vet Halligan, HawthoRNe television star Christina Moore, Vertical Horizon lead singer Matt Scannell in addition to Reep who emceed. Reep has appeared on numerous comedy shows and was the winner of Last Comic Standing: Season 5. The contest went an extra thirty minutes but the crowd of 3,000 plus stayed rooted to the spot until a winner was declared. The contest sponsor was House Of Dog who provided the winner with another check for $1,000 and a year round modeling contract. The Sonoma-Marin Fair has been conducting this contest for 22 years and in the last four years has received international attention for it. The World’s Ugliest Dog ® Contest was trademarked Fall of 2009.

Past World’s Ugliest Dog ® Winners have gone on to raise money and awareness for rescue animals.

The World’s Ugliest Dog ® Contest also included a Dog-Lover’s Festival and an Ugly is the New Beautiful Fashion Show in which models walk adoptable dogs from the Sonoma Humane Society. Also in attendance were the local animal shelter and Canine Companions for Independence.

NOTE: Photos of the contest are available for viewing by the public and use by the media at the Sonoma-Marin Fair Facebook site as well as www.worldsugliestdogcontest.org. To use these photos in media, please use the following credit: Grace Chon/Shine Pet Photos and link to www.worldsugliestdogcontest.org.

The World’s Ugliest Dog Online Voting Gallery...Here’s who won this year!

1^st Icky
2^nd Handsome Hector
3^rd Eger

Read all about this year’s event:

The Sonoma-Marin Fair on Friday, June 25

introduces
The Dog-Lover's Festival
Along with its 22^nd annual
And internationally known

World's Ugliest Dog® Contest
with
The Ugly is the New Beautiful
Fashion Show

Sponsored by

Come meet some really ugly (but much loved) dogs!
Read about this year's line-up of contestants here.
Dog Array

With the World’s Ugliest Dog ® Contest only days away, more dogs and more celebrities than ever before are coming to participate in this granddaddy of events set for Friday, June 25, 2010 in Petaluma, California at the Sonoma-Marin Fair. More than 25 dogs with names like Gizmo, Handsome Hector, Monkey Man, Rocco, Egar, and Icky are coming to claim the trophy. And Hollywood celebrities are flying in to judge and emcee.

This year’s event will have four judges. Celebrity Vet Karen “Doc” Halligan, Lead Singer for Vertical Horizon Matt Scannell, and That '70s Show Television Star Christina Moore will join Sonoma-Marin Fair Board Member Brian Sobel. Actor and Comic Jon Reep will emcee.

This year's big event features:

Actor/Comedian Jon Reep will emcee the 2010 show.

One of the hardest working comics in America, Jon won Season 5 of "Last Comic Standing" on NBC. you've seen him on Comedy Central's "Premium Blend", "Comedy Central Presents: Jon Reep", TBS's "Pit Stop Comedy", NBC's "Late Friday", CMT's "Comedy Club" and "Comedy Stage", CMT's "Bandits vs Smokies" just to name a few. Reep is the ultimate Metro Jethro.
Read press release about Jon Reep now.
www.jonreep.com

Celebrity and vet, Karen "Doc" Halligan, DVM will judge.
Karen Halligan

Author and television veterinarian is committed to animal welfare and pet-owner education. She's appeared on Animal Rescue 911, Dog Tales, Groomer Has It, Dogs 101, and Cats 101 and is developing her own syndicated show. She is also author of Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know: Prescriptions for Happy, Healthy Cats and Dogs. Halligan will perform the Vet Check of all the World’s Ugliest Dog ® Contestants at 4:30 pm prior to the show. www.dochalligan.com

Lead Singer for Vertical Horizan Matt Scannell will judge

Scannell is the songwriter and lead singer/guitarist of Vertical Horizon. He has written many hit singles, including “Everything You Want” (#1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and the most played song of the year 2000), “Best I Ever Had” (a Top 10 hit for Vertical Horizon and a Top 10 hit for country singer Gary Allan), “You’re A God” (#4 on the Billboard charts), and “Forever,” “I’m Still Here,” and “We Are,” all of which reached the Top Twenty. Matt recently released Vertical Horizon’s sixth album, Burning The Days, and will spend much of 2010 on tour throughout the United States. www.verticalhorizon.com

Television Star Christina Moore will judge.

The newest judge to be added is Christina Moore who is starring in the new series HawthoRNe debuting this June on TNT. Moore recently starred as Tracy Clark in The CW's new hit series 90210, as well as such popular television programs as Hot Properties, The Bad Girl's Guide, MADtv and Hyperion Bay. She has had reaccurring roles in That '70s Show, Pasadena and Unhappily Ever After and guest appearance on many other television shows. She has starred in the films Without a Paddle, Delta Farce and Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys.
www.imbd.com/find?s=all&q=Christina+Moore

Also featuring:
Model Alison Levie will be featured in the entertaining Ugly is the New Beautiful Fashion Show that happens during the judging breaks at the World’s Ugliest Dog ® Contest. Levie recently appeared as a contestant on America’s Next Top Model and is Miss Sonoma County.

Got an ugly dog? Download registration info! Fame, fun, and fortune await!

Winner takes all:
$1,000 plus in prize money, a trophy, worldwide fame, the talk show circuit, and a modeling contract with House of Dog for $1,000, plus:

A Bonanza of dog bling: collars, leashes, bowls, toys, carrier courtesy of House of Dog
A Professional Photo Shoot with the Official World's Ugliest Dog ® Event photographer, Grace Chon of Shine Pet Photos.

Read all about it in June's issues of Modern Dog
and Cesar's Way magazines.

Or online here at www.worldsugliestdogcontest.org
Hilarious Videos! Dog Info! Contest Updates!
Still time to judge for yourself, "Who is the World's Ugliest Dog?"
at the World's Ugliest Dog ® Online Voting Gallery. Vote NOW!

Dog-Lover's Festival and World's Ugliest Dog ® Contest are free with admission to the Sonoma-Marin Fair ($15 for 13 and over, $10 for 4 to 12, $8 for Seniors, under 4 are free).
(Note: Dogs are not allowed at the Fair with the exception of the World's Ugliest Dog ® contestant dogs, dogds in programming described above, and assistance dogs.)

Sonoma-Marin Fair • 4th District Agricultural Association
175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma, CA 94952
voice: 707 283-3247 • fax: 707 283-3250 • email: info@sonoma-marinfair.org
The Fair Office is open weekdays, year-round from 8 am to Noon and from 1 to 5 pm

World's Ugliest Dog® Contest
& Dog-Lover's Festival
at the Sonoma-Marin Fair

Petaluma Fairgrounds
FRIDAY, JUNE 25, 2010

12-8 pm Kiwanis Stage
Dog-Lover's Festival Opens
Featuring booths with the latest dog products
Plus Sonoma Humane Society's Tail Waggin' open for adoptions.
Activities and presentations all day.

Highlights include:

1-6 pm Paws for Reading: Kids read to dogs!

1:30 Nose Work for Dogs with
Ina Scrocco, Fit & Furry Pet Resort

2 pm Dog Party Cuisine with
Chef Mary Duffy, Three Dog Bakery

3 pm Tips for Adopting a Dog,
Sonoma Humane Society

3:30 Training Your Dog with
Karen Doolittle, Derek Baskett,
It's a Dog's Life

4 pm Join the YouTube Shoot with World's Ugliest Dogs ®

4 pm Healthy Snacks & Cakes for Dogs with Mary Ellen, Ma Snax

4:30 Is Your Dog Healthy?
Karen "Doc" Halligan and Vet Check
of World's Ugliest Dog® Contestants

5:15 Red Carpet Walk with
World's Ugliest Dog® Contestants

6 pm World's Ugliest Dog® Contest & Ugly is the New Beautiful Fashion Show

To read more about our presentations and our presenters, click here.

Ugly Dog Models

Dogs are not allowed at the Fair with the exception of the World's Ugliest Dog® contestant dogs, dogs in programming described above, and assistance dogs.