he’s so ugly, he’s pretty.
Raleigh, N.C. (PRWEB) November 23, 2005
Don’t tell fans of the world’s ugliest dog that he’s not beautiful enough to deserve his own photo calendar. The snaggle-toothed face of SAM, Internet celebrity and three-time winner of the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, now adorns a 2006 wall calendar available on Lulu.com, a web site that lets people create their own photo calendars, as well as publish print-on-demand books: http://www.lulu.com/samdog
As reported Tuesday by the Associated Press, CNN, and other news organizations, the world’s ugliest dog passed away over the weekend in the arms of Susie Lockheed, his owner, in California. Lockheed completed work on the custom calendar just days before her dog’s untimely death. The calendar offers an array of images of the hairless pooch, including one in which he appears alongside a stone gargoyle. The resemblance is striking. As one Internet wag observes, “he’s so ugly, he’s pretty.”
In a truly dog-eat-dog-world, SAM would never have lasted. Taken in by Lockheed six years ago after several rescue shelters deemed him “unadoptable,” scrawny SAM – a ‘Chinese Crested’ – suffered from skin diseases and crooked teeth but possessed a sweet nature that won over first his adopted owner and then millions of fans via the Internet and television appearances.
As news of SAM’s passing spread, fans of the unsightly canine sent notes of condolence, some of which Lockheed posted on her blog. “I hope you have some idea of how dearly loved you were,” wrote one visitor identified as Tony, “and still are, not only by your mother, but by all the people around you... not to mention the MILLIONS of people around the WORLD who were fortunate enough to have even learned your story.”
SAM’s web site, http://www.samugliestdog.com, has only been up since August but has received over 45 million hits. Despite his scabrous visage, Lockheed says visitors appreciated that SAM was “truly one of a kind… a real character.” Lockheed plans to donate a portion of proceeds from the 2006 calendar to the "Best Friends Animal Sanctuary" in Utah.
Sam is not the only odd animal to show up in a calendar on Lulu.com, points out company spokesman Henry Hutton. “Making photo calendars of your pet turns out to be at least as popular as making family calendars of baby photos. It’s our largest calendar category!” Other recent titles include a benefit calendar for the Brambley Hedge Rabbit Rescue (http://www.lulu.com/bhrabbitrescue ), one starring a baby Arabian horse named Twix (http://www.lulu.com/content/174672 ), and dozens of dog and cat calendars, including one about a dog called “Former Congressman Chuckles” (http://www.lulu.com/content/185938) published by the popular blogger known as Dooce.
ABOUT LULU.COM
Lulu lets people create and sell their own photo calendars in addition to having grown into the web’s most popular tool for publishing print-on-demand books. Authors and photographers using Lulu pay no up-front cost, set their own royalties and keep complete control over their content. Contact: pr@lulu.com
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