What’s cute, cuddly and, unfortunately, homeless?  All the stray dogs that roam around Sochi, Russia and came to the word’s attention thanks to a few Olympic athletes who made sure “homeless” was an adjective that quickly got cut from their description.

Over in the land of fur hats and vodka, the number of strays has been growing rapidly over the years. To make matters worse, these strays are being treated poorly by

the Russian government, often being taken to undisclosed locations and put down. Local veterinarians in Sochi have even reported seeing poisoned bait around the city. According to animal rights advocates, about 300 dogs have been killed each month since October, 2013.

It wasn’t until the Winter Olympics in Sochi rolled around that the problem with the

strays became noticed by people around the globe; specifically catching the attention of some American Olympians.

Gus Kenworthy, slopestyle skiing silver medalist, adopted a mother dog and four

puppies after constantly seeing them outside the Olympic media center. According to

the now globally famous skier, he would feed them every chance he could, which quickly led to his decision to want to adopt them. Kenworthy even delayed his flight back home in order to get the correct paperwork done to get the dogs into the United States. Sadly, one of the puppies died before making the trip.

Lindsey Jacobellis, who competed in snowboard cross but failed to make the medal round, also adopted a stray.

American hockey player, David Backes, who currently plays for the St. Louis Blues, even decided to start an organization to help find shelters for the dogs in the United States and other countries, as well.

“Hearing about this makes my heart so happy,” said VHS senior Gabi Mottola. “I absolutely adore animals, so I think that what these athletes are doing is just so great; I love it. I really hope that the effort to adopt them and put them in respectable shelters continues until there isn’t a single homeless puppy over there.”

Now that the stray dogs are getting more and more attention from people and the media, it seems as though the light at the end of the tunnel is beginning to shine brightly

for these poor pooches.