Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty is only skin deep. Something about beauty inside, radiating out. All of these peppy little upbeat phrases help when you're a down-on-your-luck mongrel called Ugly.
Ugly - adopted by a famous Hongkonger - was taken to a recent collaboration between the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and students of English from City University. The 'Pick Tong Gau Show' promoted mongrels and a photo exhibition was organised to celebrate the beauty of dogs that aren't pedigree.
There to show some of the canine artwork and promote responsible dog ownership and the attraction of mongrels were artists Sharon Kwok Sau-wan and Ken Chan Kai-tai (pictured) and Aussie actor Gregory Rivers. Chan, an animal ambassador for SPCA (HK) who has adopted a mongrel called Whitey, said many Hongkongers liked designer brands and having a pedigree dog was often just a status symbol.
Rivers keeps 11 dogs (yes, 11) and has been a dog owner for nine years.
SPCA executive director Sandy Macalister said many stray dogs were mongrels, but the attitude towards them in the city was changing.
Kwok, also an animal ambassador, brought Ugly along and told how her former owner needed a dog to guard the family's boat. But since Ugly was too quiet for the job, she was abandoned, later to be adopted by Kwok.
