After being mistreated and left in a cage, a heavily pregnant rescue dog had her chance to shine for her very own maternity photo shoot, before giving birth any day now.

Brie Willis is the director of Valentine’s Second Chance Animal Rescue in Kansas City, and despite already being at full capacity and not accepting any more rescues, she simply couldn’t turn away this poor dog in need. The Staffordshire bull terrier had been locked in a cage while heavily pregnant with a litter of more than 10 puppies, and was covered in her own filth.

Sadly this isn’t a one off tale as the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) estimates that 3.1 million dogs end up in animal shelters around the country every year, and around 2 million of those dogs eventually get adopted.

Unfortunately, of the millions of abandoned dogs that end up in shelters, 390,000 are euthanized each year, and if it wasn’t for the Valentine’s Second Chance Animal Rescue, Adira would have likely been one of those.

Adira poses for her maternity shoot, and inset shows Willis holding the rescue dog. Adira was found heavily pregnant and locked in a cage before being taken care of by Willis.

Refusing to let that happen to the gentle girl, Willis immediately went to action to make the dog safe and comfortable, and she’s since been given the name Adira, meaning resilient.

Willis spoke to Newsweek about her shelter’s newest addition: “Although we had an intake freeze for the shelter, when we saw a post about this sweet girl being locked in a cage and covered in her own filth, we knew we had to act straight away.

“Immediately upon meeting her, I knew she was going to be one of the most gentle and loving girls we had ever met. She is the epitome of sweet and gentle. After all she went through, to still be this kind and loving simply amazed us.”

Adira’s large belly was difficult to miss, so Willis took her to the vets for screenings, which showed that her suspicions were true, and Adira was indeed pregnant with a litter of puppies. They estimated that she was expecting more than 10 puppies and could have them in just a matter of days, so it was incredibly lucky that the shelter took Adira in when they did.

The heavily pregnant rescue dog had her day to shine as she posed for her maternity photo shoot.

Willis believes that Adira was forced to have multiple litters before this one, being used to breed puppies repeatedly. Although they only had limited time, Willis wanted to celebrate her and make the brave dog feel special, and what better way that a maternity photo shoot to draw a line under what will be her last litter.

“It wasn’t super surprising based on that big belly of hers, but we found out she is expecting over 10 puppies. We knew we wanted to do something special for her, so we reached out to an amazing photographer, Lauren Gray, who offered to donate her time to do these beautiful maternity photos.

“We wanted the world to see what we saw in this amazing girl. She had been failed by humans so many times and it absolutely broke our hearts. Even after all the pain she had endured, and being forced to have multiple litters, we wanted to celebrate her final litter.”

On the day of the maternity shoot, after being mistreated for so long before, Adira finally relished the chance to be celebrated and enjoyed plenty of treats for her excellent modeling skills.

Willis continued: “She was just so excited to be the center of attention, we really struggled to get her to stay still for long enough to even get a photo. She was so inquisitive about everything around her.

Adira with the flower crown on her pregnant belly. Willis believes the dog had been forced to carry multiple 

“She got lots of treats and eventually decided she would sit still for us to get some great shots. We had originally planned for the flower crown to be on for all the photos, but that lasted a whole 30 seconds! So, we got a little creative and that’s when we tried the crown on her belly, and it ended up being my absolute favorite of the bunch.

“We were there for about 45 minutes, and she got as many belly rubs, kisses and treats that a girl could dream of.”

Since Willis shared Adira’s horrific experience on social media, she has been inundated with love and support, and there’s already a foster family lined up to take her in the coming months.

Once she welcomes her litter, Adira and her puppies will remain together for eight weeks before each dog goes to their forever home, and Adira finally gets her own too. She has endured so much and been mistreated for so long, but she will finally be able to put her feet up and enjoy being part of a loving family.

“We have received so much love for Adira. Her gentle personality and beauty has stolen the hearts of every single person who hears about her. To have spent her life in such horrible conditions, and still be the most loving and gentle girl is very special. We are honored to be her steward into her second chance at life,” Willis said.