Ashlee Holland is a mother who has always been passionate about helping animals. Ever since she was a child, Ashlee has known that she wanted to work in the veterinary field.

Being a mother, Ashlee was immediately touched when she met Ava, a pregnant Chow mix, and learned of her situation. Ava was on the euthanasia list because her shelter needed to make room for incoming dogs, and the fact that she was pregnant did not change her situation in the eyes of the shelter employees at all.

Ashlee was heartbroken when she heard about Ava’s situation, as she could relate to her as a fellow mother.

“No dogs deserve to be put to sleep for space,” Ashlee said.

Ashlee decided to adopt Ava, and two weeks later, the dog went into labor. Ashlee had known that she was pregnant, but she did not know how many dogs she was expecting.

Ava ended up giving birth to seven adorable puppies over the course of a few hours.

Ashlee assumed that Ava was done, so she began cleaning her bedding and cleaning her up. Overnight, Ava delivered eight more puppies, bringing her total to fifteen!

Ashlee was overjoyed when she saw how many puppies were delivered.

“It’s heaven. It’s a puppy pile – you can’t get any better than that,” Ashlee said.

Ashlee let her 9 year-old son name the puppies, and he named them all after past and current Kansas City Royals team members. Ashlee has no regrets about adopting Ava and her brood.

“It’s incredible,” Ashlee said. “I didn’t save one life – I saved 19.”

All of Ava’s puppies have since found wonderful forever homes! Find out more about this story in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdDAxUjUJ-0