The 7-year-old Chinese Crested dog, with reversed hind legs, is nearly bald but for a shock of white wispy hairs.
But it's those kinds of peculiarities that endeared the pooch to judges at the "World's Ugliest Dog" contest in Petaluma, Calif., where he took home the grand prize on Friday.
"From the second he sits his hairless little booty and backward legs on your lap, you feel his warm, huggable power to change the meaning of the word ugly," said NBC host Gadi Schwartz, one of the competition's judges, in an interview with Today.
Catherine Liang, another judge, told The New York Times: "In the cutest way possible, he kind of reminds me of a hairy hippopotamus."
"He knew that this pup might have a chance at finding a good home and a fairly normal life with the support of our rescue group," the biography said.
Linda Elmquist adopted Scooter seven months ago from a man with the rescue group, reported Today.
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