Lifestyle

Hackers Foul Ugliest Dog Competition

Pee Wee Some people just have WAY too much time on their hands. Take, for example, whoever thought it would be fun to hack into...

By Dogster

, May 19, 2006

Hackers Rig Ugliest Dog Competition

Pee WeeSome people just have WAY too much time on their hands. Take, for example, whoever thought it would be fun to hack into the computer and try to rig the World’s Ugliest Dog Competition.

Poor Pee Wee Martini.

The 2-year-old Chinese Crested/Japanese Chin mix was leading in the online World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, a canine version of the People’s Choice Awards for the funny-looking critters.

Then computer hackers broke into the Sonoma-Marin Fair Web site and erased 40,000 votes for Pee Wee and stole 30,000 from an Italian greyhound named Victoria while they were at it.

That put Lucille Bald — a purebred Chinese Crested from Florida — in the lead until fair officials noticed the vote theft.

”Everything was going really well, we were getting a huge amount of hits,” Tawny Tesconi, chief executive of the Sonoma-Marin Fair, said Thursday. ”Then votes started changing.”

To make sure every dog gets ”a fair shake,” the online voting for the popular winner will start over May 22, Tesconi said.

The popular World’s Ugliest Dog Contest has been drawing entries from around the country to Petaluma for the past 17 years. An online competition was added this year for fun.

Victoria

Dogster

Dogster is a dog magazine and dog website where dog lovers come together to get the latest expert advice about dog behavior, dog health, dog news and dog entertainment, plus a whole lot of adorable dog pics. Currently edited by Melissa Kauffman.

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