The World's Ugliest Dog is dead

In an ugly world filled with ugly dogs, Zsa Zsa stood out. A nasty underbite showed off a snaggled set of lower choppers, and she just couldn't keep her tongue in her mouth. You might have stared; you might have looked away to avoid making her, or yourself, uncomfortable. The point is that people noticed Zsa Zsa, noticed her enough that the 9-year-old's unique face became famous in June, when she was crowned the World's Ugliest Dog at a pageant in California.

Likely indifferent to the title and annoyed by the hoopla, Zsa Zsa was only able to enjoy her 15 minutes of fame for a little over two weeks before she barked her last. Zsa Zsa died dreaming, her primary human companion, a Minnesotan named Megan Brainard, told US media on Wednesday.

"I'm in shock still," Brainard told the CNN-affiliated broadcaster HLN. "I haven't even processed her winning and fame."

Social media users, too, were bummed.

Brainard said Zsa Zsa, named after the sainted cop-slapping Hungarian actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, never showed much enthusiasm in life, but she added that the bulldog knew that the beauty she was born with stood out in a world of surgical enhancements and cosmetic regimens. And she stood out on a stage with a zitty Dachsund-Chinese crested mix and a Pekingese whose tongue also lolled but who, truth be told, wasn't really all that ugly. Anyway, Zsa Zsa earned her title, which came with a $1,500 (€1,275) check for Brainard.

And just as soon as the world came to know her, she was taken from it, slobbering in her sleep just like a good dog does.

mkg/msh (AFP, AP)