Feb. 19, 2014: USA forward David Backes (42) celebrates his goal against the Czech Republic with teammate Ryan Callahan during the first period of men's quarterfinal hockey game in Shayba Arena at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. (AP)
St. Louis Blues captain David Backes has joined the ranks of American Olympians who have brought stray dogs home from Sochi.
The NHL hockey player and his wife went through all the paperwork to bring home two dogs that kept appearing at a hotel where the U.S. men’s hockey team was staying, KTVI reports.
“By the end of it, those two were living in hotel rooms, where they shouldn't have been, getting baths in bathtubs where they shouldn’t have been,” Backes said.
The dogs, who Backes named Sochi Junior and Sochi Jake, were taken by the Five Acres Animal Shelter in St. Charles, Mo., after he returned home from a 13-hour flight.
Shelter staff will take care of the dogs for a month before putting them up for adoption.
“When they’re timid and you can kind of tell they’ve been mistreated or you see one… fighting over some scraps of food, that really tears your heart out because we feel that every dog should have a great home,” Backes told KTVI.
Gus Kenworthy, a 22-year-old American slopestyle skier, delayed his return home from Sochi to also fill out paperwork so he could take home four puppies and their mother.
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