Noted U.S. Olympics Team sweetheart and animal advocate Gus Kenworthy has been in the news as of late not only for his athletic achievements and proudly “out” status, but also for his animal rescue efforts in South Korea (he previously helped rescue a family of strays in Sochi) and new title of dog dad. The skier and his boyfriend Matt Wilkas recently adopted a puppy from a shut down dog meat farm in South Korea with the help of the Humane Society.
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PEOPLE caught up with Kenworthy at the Ralph Lauren Olympic sponsored athletes meet-and-greet on March 1. He explained the process of getting Beemo into the country, the meaning behind her name and how he knew she was “the one.”
Where are you in the process of getting Beemo into the U.S.?
“Humane Society International’s already given all the dogs vaccinations, and they’re sort of dealing with all the red tape with all the animals. There are 90 dogs coming over and I think March 13 is the day they actually get back to Montreal, and then I’ll fly up and pick up Beemo.”
Why did you name her Beemo?
“It’s from a cartoon called Adventure Time that I’m obsessed with. And my ex and I actually named one of the dogs from Russia Jake, because in Adventure Time the dog’s name is Jake. So, this time I sort of just wanted to do the same thing, go after the same show. And Beemo is a character, yeah.”
Did you know the second you saw her that she was going to be your dog?
“I didn’t know how to choose, there were so many cute ones. Matt and I were actually holding two different puppies prior to picking up Beemo and I thought maybe that they were going to be the ones, and they were like, ‘Okay, put them down for a second, we have to show you something.’ So, we reluctantly set them down and we went and did something else, and when we came back Beemo was just sitting there, so cute. So, I picked her up and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m never putting you down.’”
