Petunia won the title Friday at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa
The winner of the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest appeared on the “Today” show Monday, just days after being awarded the coveted title at Friday’s Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa.
Petunia, a 2-year-old hairless French Bulldog mix, appeared on the NBC morning program alongside hosts Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer. She was accompanied by handler Shannon Nyman of the Luvable Dog Rescue in Eugene, Oregon.
“Even a wonky dog deserves to be loved,” Nyman said on the show. “And that’s what we prefer to call them: not ugly, wonky.”
The annual contest, administered by the Sonoma-Marin Agricultural District and previously a longtime highlight of the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, advocates for adopting rescue animals.
Petunia was rescued from Las Vegas in May, where her owner hoarded more than 50 canines living in crates, Nyman said. She attributes Petunia’s lack of hair to unethical breeding.
“Most of these bully breeds are being irresponsibly bred, unethically bred,” Nyman said. “They have what’s called BOAS — brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome — so they need to get their soft palate reduced in order for them to breathe and function well.”
Petunia, who had surgery to fix her breathing, receives daily coconut oil and sunscreen treatments and will return home to Oregon for some post-victory relaxation. That said, she does enjoy the spotlight.
“She loves all the attention,” Nyman said. “She loves all the affection, all the humans petting her.”
Alongside the spot on ‘Today’ and a $5,000 cash prize, Petunia will be featured on limited-edition merchandise from Mug Root Beer, which sponsors the contest. Items include T-shirts, a custom Mug Root Beer soda can and dog toys.
NBC News correspondent Gadi Schwartz, one of the contest’s judges, was also on the broadcast.
“She kinda looks like she’s been hitting the creatine — she’s really jacked,” Schwartz said.
Nyman added that Luvable Dog Rescue is now working to launch Wonky Dog, a for-profit LLC to raise money for rescue dogs.
You can reach Vince Basada at vince.basada@pressdemocrat.com.