This holiday season, we here at Dogster wanted to do something special, but we weren’t sure what. Send gifts to all our readers? Grrr, no room in the budget for that. Volunteer with shelters? But there are so many shelters that need our time. What could we do that we felt would have a huge impact on the welfare of dogs?

We decided on our “A Puppy Is Not a Present” campaign — an effort to educate and reduce the number of unwanted dogs in the world and end puppy-mill horror stories. As one of our readers pointed out, if ignorance is the problem, education is the best solution we have.

We know there are lots of carefully considered gifted dogs welcomed into families who’ve thoroughly discussed the responsibilities of accepting a new member into the family … but we also know there are lots of cute doggies in the window who end up as impulsive presents to unsuspecting recipients. That’s what we’re talking about.

Our friends at xoJane dug our message so much, they decided to run a post with it and feature a gallery of their writers’ adopted animals.

A puppy bursting out of a box with a ribbon tied around its neck is great for the movies, but in real life, it’s a scene that often does not have a happy ending.

Check out the xoJane dogs below … and help us celebrate the holidays by posting photos of your own adopted pooches in the comments, along with stories of how these wonderful animals came into your lives.

Photos via xoJane … now show us yours!