Scooter wins world's ugliest dog contest and millions of hearts

Society has categorised people into two categories: beautiful and ugly. The concept of beauty and ugliness has been debated in humans, but lately, it has also been introduced to animals.

Although there are hardly any contests for the world's ugliest human, there has been one for the year's ugliest dog, which makes this even worse and wrong. Hilarious but not right.

Over the weekend, judges chose the winner of the World's Ugliest Dog Contest 2023 in Petaluma, California, by examining a line-up of dogs with squashed snouts, snaggled teeth, protruding eyes, and bristling whiskers.

Animal lovers all over the world are moved to tears by the competitors for this shady award each year. Unflattering images of pets are a standard component of internet content that goes viral.

According to studies by Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz, humans' attraction to features associated with infancy, such as big eyes, large heads, and soft bodies, is an evolutionary adaptation that helps ensure that adults care for their offspring, ensuring the survival of their species. 

Lorenz coined the term "baby schema" to describe these infantile characteristics in 1943, according to the BBC.

Surprisingly, humans also have baby schema for strange-looking animals such as blobfish, pugs, aye-ayes, and bulldogs because, according to psychology experts, these pets have "infantile qualities" that evoke affection and innate instincts to nurture and protect while decreasing aggression towards infants.

Additionally, experts have suggested that because the majority of these ugly-cute animals have health issues, it is best to reconsider "an obsession with such animals despite their goofy features such as bulging eyes and wrinkly faces that make us smile."

However, a seven-year-old Chinese Scooter was crowned the world's ugliest dog and even received a trophy in this honour in the end.

Furthermore, the contest's website stated: "Many of the contestant dogs have been rescued from shelters and puppy mills, to find loving homes in the hands of those willing to adopt."

They added: "Please join us in raising awareness and support for the pets yet to be placed in a loving home."