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Ireland Baldwin's mission: Getting people to 'adopt not shop' pets this holiday season


UPDATED FEBRUARY 7, 2019 8:49 AM EST

Ireland Baldwin’s holiday is going tothe dogs! The 20-year-old has teamed up with The Humane Society of the United States andher adorable pup Kota in a new PSA to encourage others to adopt their pets from ashelter this holiday season.

Alec Baldwin and  Kim Basinger’s daughter has firsthandexperience when it comes to rescuing animals. “Kota was a dog that I actually rescuedoff the street," Ireland said in the video, while donning a matching Santa hat as her Husky dog.

Ireland rescued her dog Kota Photo: The Humane Society of the United States

She added, “I can’t say no to somebody who bites my hand and wholooks like David Bowie.”

Ireland’s passion for saving animals began at an early age, when she sought to create a safe haven for those she viewed as in danger. The brunette beauty said, “I had these crazy, high ambitions to start my own sanctuary. It was called Animal Town. I wanted to rescue and save like every animal in the world and do whatever I could.”

And that even included the worms in her backyard! She explained, “I thought the worms were in danger in my backyard because my gardeners were working back there, and I’d collect all of them to start my own worm sanctuary.”

The animal advocate is striving for fans to adopt their pets, ratherthan purchasing since many puppies come from puppy mills. "I've seenfirsthand how dogs are treated in puppy mills. I've seen videos. I’ve gone oncrazy expeditions with my mom," she said. "It's always been a very, very soft subject forme and something I'm very, very passionate about."

The David Bowie fan shows off her tattoo of the singer Photo: FilmMagic

Ireland continued, “We've rescued and saved all kinds of animalssince I was a little girl and it was always something that.... Nothing even going on in my own personal life affected me more than seeing animalssuffer, and I wanted to do whatever I could to change or put my footprint [on it]."

The model joins a roster ofcelebrities including Ian Somerhalder, Kaley Cuoco, Kesha and Jenna Dewan Tatum who have teamed up with The Humane Society of the United States topromote animal protection. For more information on how you can adopt a pet visit: https://theshelterpetproject.org.