World's Ugliest Dog Zsa Zsa Dies Weeks After Winning Title

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ANOKA, Minn. (CNN) — Zsa Zsa, whose bodacious tongue recently won her the 30th annual World's Ugliest Dog Contest, died in her sleep, the English bulldog's owner said Tuesday.

Megan Brainard of Anoka, Minnesota, delivered the sad news about the 9-year-old dog. "I'm in shock still," she told CNN sister network HLN. "I haven't even processed her winning and fame."

A news release announcing Zsa Zsa's victory in late June in Petaluma, California, said: "Nine years young with a swaggering tongue, Zsa Zsa delivered a shower of slobber as she claimed this year's title."

At the time, Brainard said in an email to CNN that Zsa Zsa -- who has two fur brothers, a pug and a Frenchie -- owed her impressive tongue to her almost horizontal upper teeth and heavily pronounced underbite, which made it difficult to keep the pink, fleshy mass in her mouth.

Zsa Zsa' winnings included $1,500, "a very large trophy" and a flight to New York, where she and Brainard appeared on the "Today" show.

Zsa Zsa spent five years at a puppy mill in Missouri before being purchased by the nonprofit Underdog Rescue.

"From the moment we saw her beautiful face, we knew we would be her forever home," Brainard said.

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