Last February, we shared with you the story of Gus Kenworthy – the Olympian who rescued a dog from a meat farm in Korea. Kenworthy had just won a silver medal in Sochi. That’s when he and his partner Mat adopted the adorable Beemo and saved her from being eaten. Kenworthy also used this opportunity to raise awareness about the millions of dogs that get eaten in that part of the world. This act of his was fairly controversial. A lot of people deemed it inappropriate to meddle with other countries’ affairs and traditions. Still, regardless of what you think about it, you surely at least felt good about Beemo. After all, she was taken into a nice and loving home.
Unfortunately, Beemo’s story didn’t have a happy ending, because she died suddenly several days ago.
Beemo had become a happy and treasured member of Kenworthy’s household. She was also a symbol of hope that one can escape even the direst of situations. That’s why so many people were deeply saddened when Kenworthy broke the news on social media.
“Two days ago my beautiful baby Beemo passed away,” Kenworthy wrote in a heartbreaking Instagram post. “It was completely unexpected and Matt and I are beside ourselves trying to cope with her loss.”
Kenworthy came home with two deeply treasured things from Sochi – a silver medal in slopestyle and his beautiful rescue pup. Now he’s left with only one of them, as dog stopped eating a week ago.
A vet visit made it clear that Beemo’s lungs were deteriorated and her heart was becoming larger because of a congenital condition.
“[A veterinarian] said that she’d been living on ‘borrowed time’ from the get go,” the Olympian wrote. “Beemo was truly the best thing that ever happened to me and I feel so fortunate for our borrowed time together.”
“She loved people. She loved birds and the snow. She loved me and Matt,” Kenworthy wrote. “But most of all she loved meeting other dogs.”
“If any of you have pets up in doggy heaven please tell them to go find Bee because she could really use a good play date right now.”
