Lionel Messi left the family’s pet Bordeaux Mastiff at his home in Barcelona when he moved to Miami with his family to play in Major League Soccer. However, that decision to leave Hulk behind has not sat well with animal lovers, who accused the player of looking after his selfish interests.
Messi welcomed Hulk into his family in 2016. He shared the family’s initial joy on Instagram, writing, “New member of my family. Thanks, love, for this beautiful gift.”
Since then, Hulk has been seen with the Messi family in numerous videos on social media, sometimes playing with the kids and sometimes posing with Messi. The huge breed, which can reach heights of 110 pounds and weights of 27 inches, was a favourite of Messi’s kids.
But Hulk was absent when Messi moved to Miami, prompting questions from fans and animal lovers. Argentine comedian Migue Granados, who visited Messi at his Miami home after LM10’s move, revealed what happened to the Bordeaux Mastiff.
Granados inquired about Hulk’s whereabouts, to which Messi explained that they had left Hulk at Barcelona due to age issues. “He’s in Barcelona, Hulk is there. He is a little old. So, we had to leave him in the house we have there in Barcelona,” Messi had reportedly told Granados.
Staff at Messi’s opulent home in Castelldefels, a Barcelona suburb around 12 miles from Camp Nou, are presently taking care of the dog.
However, Messi’s decision has not sat well with some animal lovers who were bewildered by the fact that Messi could not arrange for the dog’s transport despite having every resource available to him as one of world’s best footballer.
Fans not happy
A Facebook post on the same topic elicited a strong backlash from animal lovers. A fan wrote on the comments section, “When I move from Miami to Sydney Australia I did not leave my dog which was very expensive but I worked night and day saved up but I did not leave my dog behind.”
Another said, “Dnt agree with this!!! The money he got could of build a house for the dog alone.”
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However, Hulk’s health is said to pretty serious. Messi is said to have kept Hulk at Barcelona due to his concern over weather change in Miami. But fans are having none of that.