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Gus Kenworthy, Olympic Silver Medalist, Wants To Rescue Stray Sochi Puppies

By Patricia Didelot
Published on: 09:57 PST, Feb 14, 2014

Remember the stray dogs that were going to be mercilessly killed at Sochi before the Olympics? Silver medalist Gus Kenworthy wants to rescue some of them now, and we have some adorable photos he shared on Twitter.

Earlier this week thousands of stray dogs roaming the streets of Sochi were saved from being killed by animal lovers and local authorities who placed them in shelters.

Now fresh from his silver medal win in the slopestyle skiing competition, American Gus Kenworthy is very interested in rescuing some of the cute little pups.

The puppies have clearly captures this 22-year-old’s heart and he is taking steps to bring as many as he can back home with him.

“They’re beautiful dogs. These dogs are friendly and interactive dogs,” said Kelly O’Meara, director of companion animals and engagement for the Humane Society International (HSI).

In April, Russia announced that they would put down street dogs prior to the start of the Sochi Winter Olympics, however, the government backtracked following international outrage.

The HSI reached out to help come up with a humane and effective program to find the strays other homes — but they received no response. The organization started a campaign to put pressure on the Russian government to stop the killing.

Several local organizations took it upon themselves to round up as many of the dogs as they could and put them up for adoption.

On Tuesday, Gus Kenworthy said he is doing everything he can to rescue as many of the former stray puppies as he possibly can:

“Spent all afternoon playing with a gang of stray puppies here in Sochi! Looking into finding a way to bring them home with me but also don’t want to take them away from their mama because she was being super cute and protective over them. I bought them some food and I’ll go visit them again tomorrow.”

The Sochi silver medalist explained he even has bough kennels for the pups and shared a collage of his visit with his new pals:

“Also, for the people wondering, I’ve lined up kennels 4 the pups & made vaccination appointments,” he tweeted. “Doing all I can to bring them home w/ me!”

[fb link=”https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=653940377980381&set=a.155541341153623.30542.155534687820955&type=1?] Gus Kenworthy [/fb]

Gus Kenworthy made history on Wednesday when he and fellow slopestyle skiers Joss Christensen (Gold) and Nick Goepper (Bronze) swept the first ever podium for their sport at the Winter Olympics.

[Image courtesy of Gus Kenworthy/Twitter]

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