Scandal Botox Cheating In Camel Beauty Contest. Really!

Yes, there's such a thing as camel beauty contests, and yes,
these big money events have cheating scandals

I've never though of camels as particularly beautiful animals, but we all know beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

So it is that in Saudi Arabia, they have camel beauty contests. They do! And these are high stakes contests, right up there money-wise, it seems, with Miss Universe or something like that.

According to The National UAE, about $57 million is awarded to winners of the camel beauty contests and camel races. Nearly $32 million just goes into the beauty pageants.

Who knew?

With any high stakes competition, you have to worry about cheating scandals and one just erupted.

The National UAE reported a veterinarian was caught performing plastic surgery on the camels to enhance their beauty, such as it is. Camels were given Botox, and underwent surgery to reduce the size of their ears. apparently, small, delicate ears are a sure winner.

Reports the National UAE:

"'They use Botox on the lips, the nose, the upper lips, the lower lips and even the jaw,' said Ali Al Mazrouei, 31, a regular attendee at the Gulf festivals and son of a top Emirati breeder 'It makes the head more inflated so when the camel comes it's like 'Oh look at how big that head is. It has big lips, a big nose.'"

These camel botox injections and collagen filters only last for a few months. Breeders buy these camel beauty contest winners only to realize weeks or months later they'd been conned by a cheater.

In all, twelve camels were disqualified from the recent Saudi camel beauty show because of cheating. I guess it's all a Middle Eastern version of the Russian Olympic doping scandal, huh?