The 2024 World's Cutest Rescue Dog Contest Winner Is a 'Cuddly' Pit Bull Mix Who's 'Never Met a Stranger'

Mar. 15, 2025

Margot’s unique look stopped her pet parent, Julia Zupan, mid-scroll through Facebook.

Zupan, 25, first spotted the striking pit bull and American bulldog mix with different-colored eyes—one brown, one blue—on the Facebook page of a fellowCincinnati Animal CAREvolunteer in November 2022.

Zupan had been volunteering at the Ohio animal shelter, taking dogs out on day trips to de-stress from shelter life, as a way “to get her dog fix in,” she tells PEOPLE.

But seeing Margot available for adoption made her rethink everything. “I thought, ‘Okay, I have to meet this dog because I have never seen a dog like this,” the project management specialist recalls of the 52-lb. pooch.

Margot with Julia Zupan.Heather Colley

Heather Colley

“I wasn’t looking for a dog,” she says. “But I just knew that I couldn’t give this one up.”

“I have just never met such a cuddly dog,” Zupan adds.

Margot the rescue dog.Heather Colley

Even though Margot regularly receives compliments from strangers on their walks—she “is literally the cutest dog in the world,” Zupan says— Zupan “was still shocked” to learn her pet had won the contest. “I freaked out and called my mom!”

Margot enjoying a Sniffspot in Ohio.Heather Colley

Little is known about Margot’s history before her adoption, except that a Good Samaritan brought the friendly dog to the shelter after finding her wandering alone in a Walmart parking lot. Since then, the 3-year-old dog has dedicated herself to becoming “best friends with everyone,” from the people she meets at the Starbucks drive-through to the more than 100,000 followers she’s earned on TikTok (@margottherescue) and Instagram (@margottherescue_).

“She has never met a stranger. She loves every single person,” the dog’s pet parent explains.

Zupan, who started Margot’s social media accounts to show off the dog’s “silly and very affectionate side,” also uses the platforms to highlight training issues that pet parents may encounter. Margot is a leash-reactive dog, meaning she can have “really big feelings” about being on a leash and get “frustrated because the leash is holding her back when she really wants to go make new friends,” Zupan explains. To help Margot with these reactions, Zupan trains with her daily and sets up regular visits toa private Sniffspot dog park, where she can “run around and be a crazy dog” while off-leash.

“Margot struggles with her emotions a little bit, but she’s the best dog no matter what,” she says, noting that being able to work on her reactive issue together has brought the pair closer. “She has made me so much more compassionate and understanding of others,” she says. Zupan adds that Margot, her first rescue dog, has “changed my life completely” and has left a permanent mark on her heart — and body. Zupan got a tattoo of Margot on her arm in 2023.

“She is just like an absolute Bundle of joy,” Zupan adds.

Marcel the rescue dog.Mei-I Zien

Mei-I Zien

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Luke the rescue dog.Sara Crayton

Sara Crayton

Luke is a “constant companion” to his pet parents, Gary and Sally Crayton, who adopted the canine from Leon County Humane Society in Tallahassee, Fla., in August 2023. The couple fell in love with Luke after seeing his “sweet face” and “big blue eyes.”

source: people.com