Gus Kenworthy, U.S. Olympic skier, makes plans to adopt stray Sochi puppies
U.S. Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy has a case of puppy love.
The silver-medal winner spotted a stray dog on the street while walking around the host city of Sochi on Tuesday, and posted his cute discovery on Twitter.
"Oh my glob, look who I just found! :) ?#sochistrays," Kenworthy tweeted from his verified Twitter account with a picture of the small pup.?
Four hours later, he found four more strays, and spent all afternoon feeding and playing with the "gang."
Barking dogs have been a problem in Sochi, so much so that the government had been euthanizing strays.
The Telluride, Colo., native said he's doing all he can to bring the dogs home with him.
"Also, for the people wondering, I've lined up kennels 4 the pups & made vaccination appointments. Doing all I can to bring them home w/ me!" he tweeted.
The tweet received more than 1,700 retweets and 4,000 favorites, along with responses from people thanking him for his efforts to save the homeless animals.
Some of his teammates have also taken a liking to the dogs, visiting "Gus Kenworthy's puppies" on their way home from events.
Gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic skier Joss Christensen posted a photo of himself with one of the puppies on Friday.
"Just stopped by to check on @guskenworthy's puppies on the way back from a looong 24 hours in the city," he tweeted.
Kenworthy is in the company of other athletes who have taken an interest in saving strays in Sochi.
Former Olympic basketball medalist Thomas McMillen sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee urging them to stop the street dog cull, according to Humane Society International.
Amanda Bird, the U.S. bobsled and skeleton spokeswoman and competitive athlete for over 10 years, also reportedly said she is seeking to adopt a puppy.
As Kenworthy told the world on Twitter, "puppy love is real to puppies."