Hope Solo has never been shy about her love for her dobermans; she’s a proud owner of five of the majestic dogs. Sadly, tragedy struck one of her doggos this week when someone committed the “heinous act” of shooting her beloved Conan on Wednesday.
Solo announced the news on Instagram and Twitter on Thursday afternoon, saying Conan was in critical condition. She also thanked the Wilkes Veterinary Hospital in North Carolina and its staff for their aid.
“Our magnificent dog Conan is in critical condition after being shot last night,” Solo wrote on Twitter “It’s hard news to share, but harder to make sense of this heinous act. We‘ve heard that there are developments in canine prosthetics and would love any information about getting Conan a new front leg!”
I can’t imagine why someone would shoot a dog (or anything else, for that matter). Hopefully Conan has a speedy recovery. Fortunately, dogs can survive the loss of a leg; some vets even joke that the resilient creatures are born with an extra leg.
There’s been no word on whether the shooter has been caught or charged.
Conan is the brown one on the far left. A beautiful dog, best of the bunch.
And Jerramy and I want to say thank you to Wilkes Veterinary Hospital and their staff for rushing Conan into emergency care, as well as their COVID-19 care practices. pic.twitter.com/9ArldOif8l— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) May 14, 2020
Solo has had an eventful few months. In March, she and her husband Jerramy Stevens welcomed twins to the world and gave them some stellar soccer names. She was later joined in the mommy ranks by former USWNT teammate Alex Morgan, who gave birth to her first child last week.
While dobermans often get a bad reputation, they’re kind of the perfect dog for Solo, arguably the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game and a divisive figure off the pitch.
“Jerramy always says, ‘Dobermans remind me of you; they’re loyal, regal and people are scared of them,’” Hope Solo told People in 2015. “But they wouldn’t hurt a fly and Sasha is pretty much scared of everything.”
This looks like a family reunion waiting to happen @KevinHart4real #Dobermom pic.twitter.com/czO23OcJNp
— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) April 21, 2020
Jerramy, the pups and #Snowmageddon2018 pic.twitter.com/XtKED6gkr2
— Hope Solo (@hopesolo) December 9, 2018
We sincerely hope this is the last time we have to write about a dog (or anything else that’s not a soccer ball) getting shot and can go back to reporting about the good boys who invade soccer pitches.