Olympian Adopts Dog from South Korea

Gus Kenworthy may not have won a medal in the 2018 Olympic Winter games, but the freestyle skier has once again won the admiration of dog devotees around the world for shining a light on the plight of dogs in desperate need of rescue.

The animal-loving athlete who saved three street dogs during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia recently paid a visit to a South Korean dog meat farm — one of 17,000 in the country which supplies canines for human consumption. As Kenworthy explains in an Instagram post, the dogs he met are just 90 of the 2.5 million currently confined to cages in dog farms across South Korea.

Thanks to Humane Society International, the dog farm visited by the 2014 silver medalist is being shut down, and all of the dogs who were facing their fate are now looking forward to a bright future in the United States or Canada. One of the fortunate canines– a pup dubbed Beeno by her new forever pet parents Kenworthy and his boyfriend Matt Wilkas– will make her way to the States as soon as she has all of her vaccinations.

The silver medalist with a heart of gold is not the only Olympian who has taken time during their stay in South Korea to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. A proud pet parent to Moo-tae, a miniature Dachshund mix whose life began on a Korean dog meat farm, Canadian figure skater Meagan Duhmamel — who stepped on to the Olympic podium in Pyeongchang to receive a bronze medal in the pairs competition — stepped in front of a camera for a Humane Society International PSA on the tough topic, and according to USA Today will accompany a rescued dog on his flight to freedom when she makes her return journey from South Korea to Canada.

Related Page: Gus Kenworthy Promotes Think Adoption First

Among those who cheered for the athletes when they walked into the stadium during the opening ceremony was South Korean President Moon Jae-In, who also made headlines for making headway in the struggle to end the dog meat trade by adopting Tory, a pup rescued from a dog farm who had the opportunity to embark on a second chance at life thanks to Coexistence of Animal Rights on Earth (CARE).

A post shared by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on Feb 23, 2018 at 8:10am PST