GREENSBORO, NC — — The U.S. Figure Skating Championships draws in the best skaters from all over the country, and one of those skaters has four legs and a tail.
Benny is a seven-year-old Labrador, but he is not your average dog; he is the world’s first ice-skating dog. When Benny was 16 months old, he was in a shelter in Salt Lake City, Utah, for six months until Cheryl Delsangro decided she wanted to add another dog to her family. She checked the shelter’s website for adoptable dogs and saw Benny.
“I saw him up there, and I looked into it, and he was in the shelter, and he was getting near the end of the length of time they would keep him there,” Delsangro said.
Cheryl adopted Benny and promised she would give him a great and loving life.
“I don’t understand why nobody wanted him because he’s the perfect dog. Plus, during those six months, he was in the dog pound he got adopted and returned in one day somebody only gave him a day to try him and returned him,” Delsangro said.
Although Benny did not initially find his forever home, the wait was well worth it. Cheryl taught Benny how to skate around a year ago after the Las Vegas Golden Knights ice hockey team made it to the Stanley Cup. Someone had asked her if she could film Benny doing a cheer on the ice in support.
“I’m a retired professional skater, so he loved chasing me around, and he was really into it, and he loved the ice he was rolling on the ice and everything, so I thought I taught three-year-olds how to skate, I think I can teach him how to ice skate after that was done,” Delsangro said.
At seven years old, Benny is no stranger to ice skating. He now skates at many local events across Las Vegas frequently skates with the Golden Knights and Spectrum on Ice, which is a non-profit organization that teaches ice skating and ice hockey for children with Autism. On Saturday, Benny was in Greensboro for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, he skated for spectators at Fan Fest, and people loved it, like Marsh Banks.
“He’s so cute, he’s so sweet, and he’s enthusiastic about doing his skating and doing his tricks,” Banks said.
Benny is not just spreading joy to his fans; he’s also spreading a powerful message of the importance of adoption.
“A lot of the dogs in the shelters are smart and athletic, and you need to channel that in a good way, if you don’t do something with them, they’ll do bad things so you channel it in a good way and you get something like Benny,” Delsangro said.
Benny has his pair of ice skates and only wears them on his two front paws.