SHE GOT GOLD IN CARING
Skate champ took home food-bound pup
A lucky pooch was rescued from a South Korean dog-meat farm by a winter Olympian with a heart of gold.
Two-time world-champion figure skater Meagan Duhamel, of Canada, helped save a mini-dachshund from becoming a meal near Pyeongchang, where dishes such as dog soup are considered a delicacy.
The 32-year-old pair skater, who is vegan, adopted the then-1year-old pup, Moo-tae, while competing in an Olympic test run last February.
“He’s like a saint,” the skater said of the dog, according to CBS. “[He’s] strong and calm.”
Moo-tae had been living on a dog farm — where canines are often locked in cages, beaten and starved — when the animal-adoption group Free Korean Dogs rescued him.
Workers drove the pup more than eight hours to meet the champion skater, said Duhamel, who is urging other Olympians to adopt dogs during the Pyeongchang games.
Duhamel and her husband, coach Bruno Marcotte, flew Moo-tae to Montreal, where he has been living with the couple for the past year.
“Most of the time, he just wants to sit in everybody’s arms,” Duhamel said. “He doesn’t even care to play — he just walks up to everybody and wants to be held.”
The dog’s front legs are misshapen because of abuse he suffered as a puppy — but he’s adjusting well to his new life, she said.
Duhamel also flew another dog named Sara to Montreal, where she was adopted by another family. And she has volunteered to fly back to Montreal with another dog after the Olympics are over.
Koreans have been eating dog meat for thousands of years but the practice has decreased recently. Some dog-meat markets closed when President Moon Jae-in adopted a 4-year-old mixed breed, Tory, after his election.
As the Olympics began, some restaurants in Pyeongchang were offered government cash to stop selling the meat during the games. But some declined. “I have been selling dog meat for decades. It is really difficult for me to change my menu just because of the Olympics,” said Park Young-ae, 60, whose Young Hoon Restaurant is near the Olympic Stadium.