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Gus Kenworthy and Puppies of Sochi, image: Twitter @guskenworthy

Remember when Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy just about broke the Internet with his mission to rescue stray pups from the streets of Sochi, Russia? His Silver Medal performance took a back seat to the adoption ordeal as he tried to spring a few dogs from the Olympic Games host city’s men streets.

It took nearly a month, but with the help of his friend, Robin Macdonald, they were eventually able to get a few dogs back to America—a mother dog and her four offspring. A fifth littermate died before getting here, but the others were not stopped at the US border (like refugee children) and they are now part of the athlete’s inner circle. Kenworthy kept it a family affair, keeping two pups himself, Mishka and Jake, giving two to his brother, and the mother dog was adopted by Gus’ mom.

A quick spin around social media yields lots of recent pictures of Gus and his four-legged compadres (speaking of Padres–Kenworthy just threw out the opening pitch at a San Diego Padres baseball game–the evening was hosted by Petco adoption initiatives, called “The Dog Days of Summer.”)

When it is time to add some canine companionship to your family, be a true hero, like Kenworthy, and adopt, don’t shop, for a dog. Buying from large breeders feeds the cruel and inhumane puppy mill system, and is, in more cases than not, actually an irresponsible way to get a dog. Rescuing is the only way to go–and you will be rightfully proud for doing something amazing for dogs.