Gus Kenworthy & Matthew Wilkas Adopt Puppy Months After Rescue Dog's Death

By Paris Close

August 4, 2018

Gus Kenworthy and boyfriend Matthew Wilkas are pooch parents once again. On Thursday (August 2), the Olympic freestyle skier took to Instagram to introduce the world to his new furry friend, an adorable pup named Birdie, whom the star athlete adopted from a meat farm in South Korea recently.

“The day Matt and I visited the horrifying dog meat farm in South Korea we witnessed a mother dog giving birth to a litter of pups. The people at @hsiglobal told us that had they not been there filming my visit nobody would’ve seen the pups immediately and they likely would’ve died in the brutal cold," Kenworthy captioned the sentimental photo of him holding his puppy-eyed friend. "Luckily though I saw them and they were rushed inside and saved. A few weeks later when all 90 of the dogs on that farm (including Beemo) were flown to North America that mother and her newborn litter were the only ones that stayed behind because the pups were too young to travel.”

The day Matt and I visited the horrifying dog meat farm in South Korea we witnessed a mother dog giving birth to a litter of pups. The people at @hsiglobal told us that had they not been there filming my visit nobody would've seen the pups immediately and they likely would've died in the brutal cold. Luckily though I saw them and they were rushed inside and saved. A few weeks later when all 90 of the dogs on that farm (including Beemo) were flown to North America that mother and her newborn litter were the only ones that stayed behind because the pups were too young to travel. After Beemo passed away I was feeling completely empty and I reached back out to the Humane Society International to find out what happened to that litter. I found out that they were still in Korea and I began getting photo and video updates on them as I waited for another farm closure and an opportunity for them to be brought to the States. That finally happened and four days ago I picked this little girl up in DC. She's a 5-month-old Jindo/ Lab mix and we named her Birdie (because birds were one of Beemo's favorite things in the world). Nothing in the world could ever replace Beemo or the love that we felt and still feel for her but Birdie has already stolen a new place in our hearts and we're excited to be dog dads again. A HUGE thank you goes out to @hsiglobal for bringing our new baby home and for all they do for animals in need around the world (follow them and support their cause). Also an immense amount of gratitude goes to @awlaarlington for taking care of Birdie in DC until I could fly there to pick her up! I am going to continue Beemo's Instagram with pupdates on Birdie. I was nervous that would seem disrespectful to Beemo's memory but I actually LOVE the idea that both of my beautiful little girls will share the page. Also, a huge part of the reason I started Beemo's page in the first place was to continue promoting animal rescue and raise awareness for the dog meat trade and since the page already has a following I thought it'd be more impactful to keep it going rather than start all over again. Follow along! @b_pups #DogsAreFriendsNotFood #AdoptDontShop 👨‍👨‍👧🐥🐶🐾❤️ 🇺🇸

A post shared by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on Aug 2, 2018 at 7:33pm PDT

The adoption news arrives just two months after the couple grieved the sudden loss of their dog, Beemo, who died in May of a congenital condition that caused her lungs to deteriorate and her heart to enlarge. As like Birdie, the pair had also rescued Beemo from a South Korean meat farm while in PyeongChang for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“After Beemo passed away I was feeling completely empty and I reached back out to the Humane Society International to find out what happened to that litter,” Kenworthy carries on in his emotional note, adding that he would continue her Instagram account with "pupdates" on Birdie to commemorate Beemo's memory.

"I was nervous that would seem disrespectful to Beemo's memory but I actually LOVE the idea that both of my beautiful little girls will share the page," he explained. "Also, a huge part of the reason I started Beemo's page in the first place was to continue promoting animal rescue and raise awareness for the dog meat trade and since the page already has a following I thought it'd be more impactful to keep it going rather than start all over again. Nothing in the world could ever replace Beemo or the love that we felt and still feel for her but Birdie has already stolen a new place in our hearts and we’re excited to be dog dads again."

Photo: Getty Images