Meet Gus Kenworthy. He’s an American Olympian in Sochi. His event is slopestyle freeskiing, but as you can see, he’s really had his hands full with other things. He found and rescued four stray puppies and their mom from the streets of Sochi, where they were in danger of being killed by hired exterminators. He found kennels for the dogs and has arranged to have them vaccinated. Then he hopes to bring them back to the US. He plans to keep one of them for himself (“I call him Putin. He likes pretzels.”) and relatives have spoken for the rest.
He told a roomful of reporters: “They are the cutest things ever….Almost a fairy tale. I’ve been a dog lover all my life. To find the cutest family of strays here at the Olympics was just a fairy tale way to have it go down.”
Yes, you’ve probably already seen these photos and heard the story. But I had to post my own copies. Gus, you see, is a fellow Coloradan. Yes, I know, so are many of the winter Olympians. But they aren’t out rescuing puppies in their spare time. Gus won a silver medal today, but in my book he’s solid gold.
For another local take on the story, see the Denver Post.
OMG, hired exterminators? Who’s running that country, Cruella de Vil? Great images PT. My hat’s off to Gus Kenworthy, and I definitely think he should go with “Putin” for a name – out of spite if nothing else!
Oh yeah, that was one of the big stories when the Olympics were just starting. Many, many stray dogs, displaced by all the Olympic construction, roaming Sochi, wandering through the venues, etc. The city hired exterminators to hunt and kill them. Huge uproar from animal lovers worldwide. Various rescue efforts ensued. I just hope the authorities will let Kenworthy take the dogs out of the country and the US will let them in.
The images are from Kenworthy’s Facebook and Twitter pages.