Former winner of Britain's ugliest dog attacked

Mugly, one of Britain's ugliest dogs, is looking even worse for wear after he was attacked and had his only tuft of hair pulled out. Police in Cambridgeshire are appealing for information after Mugly - who won the Britain's Ugliest Dog title in 2005 - was apparently set upon by a gang.

The Shitzu-Chinese Crested cross was rescued by a passer-by who chased off the thugs, who were allegedly seen hitting it with a stick and kicking and punching it. The local lady recognised the practically hairless cat-sized dog from missing posters that owner Bev Nicholson, 46, had put up in the neighbourhood in Peterborough, Cambs. He had escaped from a ground-floor window at home on Thursday and was missing.

"They had pulled out a little tuft of hair he had on his neck," said Mrs Nicholson. "It was the only hair he had and they even managed to take off one of his eyebrows. I can't even work out how they would have done that. It's not like people carry scissors or a shaver around with them."



Mrs Nicholson, who has four children and is a support worker for dwarf actors, added: "I was worried sick about him. "He'd never gone missing before and you worry about letting him out because of what he looks like and the fact he's so friendly.

"You just can't think why these people would do such a horrible thing. Part of me thinks they might not have even realised that he was a dog because of him having no hair so they just bullied him. It's horrible because he loves people so much he probably thought it was just a game and all they were interested in was hurting him.

"He was really shaken and cowered in to me when he got back to me. He was swollen and bruised around his face and rear end." Adela Navarro, a local vet, said: "He had a few cuts and was bruised and a little shaken up."

There are more photos here.