Gus Kenworthy, boyfriend rescue puppy from South Korean dog meat farm

The U.S. Olympic skier paid a "heart-wrenching visit" to a dog meat farm.

ByABC News
February 24, 2018, 2:21 AM

— -- U.S. Winter Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy isn't walking away from the games with a medal, but instead, he's returning from PyeongChang with something cuddlier and yappier: A rescue dog from a South Korean dog meat farm.

"This morning Matt and I had a heart-wrenching visit to one of the 17,000 dog farms here in South Korea," Kenworthy explained on Instagram Friday, along with a photo of his actor boyfriend Matt Wilkas and their new pooch, Beemo. "Across the country there are 2.5 million dogs being raised for food in some of the most disturbing conditions imaginable.

US Olympian Gus Kenworthy, with his boyfriend Matt Wilkas, holds a dog that the couple is rescuing from a South Korean dog meat farm. Kenworthy posted the photo on Instagram on Feb. 23, 2018.
Instagram/GusKenworthy
US Olympian Gus Kenworthy's boyfriend, actor Matt Wilkas, holds a dog that the couple is rescuing from a South Korean dog meat farm. Kenworthy posted the photo on Instagram on Feb. 23, 2018.
Instagram/GusKenworthy

Kenworthy detailed the conditions at the farm he visited in his Instagram post.

"I was told that the dogs on this particular farm were kept in 'good conditions' by comparison to other farms," Kenworthy, 26, said. "The dogs here are malnourished and physically abused, crammed into tiny wire-floored pens, and exposed to the freezing winter elements and scorching summer conditions."

US Olympian Gus Kenworthy rescued a dog from this South Korean dog meat farm, which is shutting down. Kenworthy posted the photo on Instagram on Feb. 23, 2018.
Instagram/GusKenworthy
US Olympian Gus Kenworthy rescued a dog from this South Korean dog meat farm, which is shutting down. Kenworthy posted the photo on Instagram on Feb. 23, 2018.
Instagram/GusKenworthy

The farm Kenworthy visited is being shut down, and the newly-free canines will be brought to the U.S. and Canada and placed in "fur-ever homes," he explained.

"I adopted the sweet baby in the first pic (we named her Beemo) and she'll be coming to the US to live with me as soon as she's through with her vaccinations in a short couple of weeks," Kenworthy wrote of his new family member. "I cannot wait to give her the best life possible!"

Kenworthy's soft spot for rescue dogs was apparent at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, when he brought home two puppies he found near the Olympic Village. Those dogs, Jake and Misshka, now reportedly live with his ex-boyfriend in Canada.