She’s a dog who “looks like a cute hobo.” She’s the darling of the fashion world. She’s a spokesdog for shelter pet adoption. And she’s a puppy mill survivor.

We’re talking about Toast Meets World, the adorable, tongue-lolling, sunglasses-wearning dog who has Instagram eating out of the palm of her paw. When she was suggested as a celebrity pet to appear in a new series of PSAs promoting shelter and rescue group adoption for our funded Shelter Pet Project, we had to say yes.

Here’s what Toast’s mom, Katie Sturino, told The Fashion Spot:

Toast was a breeding dog at a puppy mill in North Carolina. Puppy mill moms are bred at every opportunity in order to get the maximum amount of puppies (and money) possible out of the dog. Toast was 6 or 7 when she was taken out of the mill. Half the dogs were frozen to death in the January temperatures, but Toast was sitting there with a mouth full of rotten teeth, ready to begin her life. She was brought up to New York to be adopted out and we adopted her in January of 2010, had her rotten teeth removed and the rest is history.

Today is National Puppy Day, and the message Toast has for anyone seeking a puppy is #StartAStoryAdopt!

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