"Ugly" Dog Raising Money For Shelters

Miss Ellie, a chinese crested hairless dog, was a runner up in the Ugliest Dog Contest 2009 and became quite famous last year. Her pictures were in papers worldwide (more so then the actual winner).

Alot of it had to do with the fact she was doing it for a cause, to raise money for her local shelter. Ugly for a cause, not cause she's ugly.

She also gained fame when she tried to win the nationwide Cutest Dog Competition. She was a weekly winner and recieved more votes then any other weekly finalist. There were over 50,000 dogs entered and 12 weekly winners. She was trying to win 1 million dollars for the animal shelter. She did not advance to the final four to win the grand prize. But her efforts brought incredible awareness and support for rescue dogs and the humane society.

Last year her owner and her raised over $30,000 for their local humane society.

She was featured on Animal Planet's DOGS 101, on billboards, and her home town even named a day after her.

This year was to be her last year in the contest since she was almost 17 years old..

She just passed away.. possible stroke and as the vet said.. she was just old...



Her owner is determined to carry on her legacy and is vowing to raise 1 million dollars for the local shelter to build a new shelter. The current one was built in the early 70's to house 1,000 animals per year, and currently they take in over 5,000! With the ecomonic problems they are bound to see more! They are a full service shelter for the 4-5 surrounding towns and take in everything, including cruelty case animals and livestock. More kennels means more animals can be held for adoption! They are in dire need of a new building.



Dawn Goehring, Miss Ellie's owner, owns 14 rescue dogs total and has spent the last 8 years using her dogs as advocates for shelter animals. They do school shows, pet therapy, commercial work, and have been performers at a family theater called The Comedy Barn Theater in Pigeon Forge, TN. They do over 500 shows a year. They are active in promoting a positive, fun, relationship with your pet. They also teach pet responsibility and bite prevention at the schools.



Dawn would love to see people come together to help the animals. With so much publicity about where donated dollars go, people can rest assured that ever dollar donated to this cause will go directly towards building a new building. Even if it is just a dollar, every bit helps. Miss Ellie was a face that people remembered and her work will never be forgotten. This is about helping animals, even if it isn't your community, you can still be part of something big and important in saving animal's lives.


Go to www.misselliesmission.com to find out more