Beacon the therapy dog
Beacon, the golden retriever therapy dog for the U.S. Olympic gymnastics team, has been hospitalized.
His owner, Tracey Callahan Molnar, shared the sad news on the four-legged pup’s Instagram account on Sept. 4, calling it “an incredibly difficult post to make.”
Beacon has over 50K followers on the social media platform, which is why Molnar hoped people would send him “wishes for healing and good health.”
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“Beacon was admitted yesterday to an emergency pet hospital after some symptoms he was having (stiffness, moving into labored breathing, and then fever) were not reacting to treatments (anti-inflammatory meds, cold laser therapy),” the message said, adding that X-rays taken on Sept. 3 “showed fluid in his chest cavity which was at least in part the reason for the labored breathing.”
“The high fever was of great concern to his veterinarian. The recommendation was to transport him to an emergency hospital with specialists who could diagnose and begin to treat him,” the message continued.
Molnar noted that Beacon had some diagnostics done but still has more to go.
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“My understanding is that there are many potential causes therefore, many things to rule out,” she wrote, adding that she would keep his faithful followers updated.
Among her “biggest request” was to send the 4-year-old pup good wishes “in whatever form that comes; positive thoughts, prayer, virtual hugs, whatever speaks to you.”
She added that Beacon provides animal assisted therapy but wanted people to know that “he loves people so much that the in-person interactions he had with so many of you are also meaningful to him.”
Beacon was a fan favorite during the 2024 United States Olympic gymnastics team trials in June. He is the organization's first therapy dog.
His Instagram is filled with snapshots of him with Olympians like Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles and former Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman and Laurie Hernandez, as well as many more athletes.
In an interview with ESPN, Molnar said that Beacon was an “emotional sponge” for people competing.
“(Therapy dogs) absorb the stress of the people they’re relieving the stress off of,” she told ESPN. “So even though he might be lying still for two hours, he’s wiped out afterwards.”
Due to “challenges with logistics,” Beacon was not able to support Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, his Instagram noted on July 22.
“Beacon and i will be cheering our olympians on from california,” Molnar wrote on the post.
Beacon would go to received Olympics-themed toys, and in late-August offered animal assisted therapy at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York.
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