Tragic Liam Payne and his girlfriend Kate Cassidy adopted dog called Nala from animal rescue shelter in Miami a month before he fell to his death from hotel balcony

Liam Payne’s heartbroken girlfriend was seen in public for the first time with the dog they adopted together just before the singer plunged to his tragic death.

Kate Cassidy, 25, armed with two packs of Taste of the Wild dog food, walked in Florida with pet Nala, who the couple rescued from an animal shelter last month.

It was a dog that Payne adored and hoped would one day be part of a “fun and loving family.”

The troubled One Direction singer had previously described the meeting that led to the adoption as a ‘meet and greet with a bunch of doggos’.

Speaking about his furry friend, he added: “I really love her. She’s so cute.

“She’s a little new member of the family for a while.

‘We’re going to take her in for a while and make her really nice for a loving family, I think. But maybe we are a nice family.’

Kate had added: ‘We did a meet and greet with three different dogs and this one suited us best. She’s so sweet. She is only four months old. She was abandoned by her previous owners and dumped at the shelter. We wanted to give her a second chance and a better life.’

Liam, 31, died on Wednesday when he fell from a balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

He and Kate had gone to see Liam’s former bandmate Niall Horan perform, but Kate returned to their Florida home two days before Payne’s death.

It emerged that the singer had been acting ‘erratically’ prior to the fall, with police called to ‘an aggressive male who may have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol’.

On Friday, Kate broke her silence to pay an emotional tribute to Payne. The message on her Instagram read: “Thank you for all the kind words and love sent my way.

‘I was completely at my wits’ end. Nothing about the past few days felt real. I ask and pray that you give me the grace and space to deal with this privately.

‘Liam, my angel. You are everything. I want you to know that I loved you unconditionally and completely. I will love you for the rest of my life. I love you, Liam.”

Ms Cassidy and Payne first started dating in October 2022 and made their red carpet debut at the Fashion Awards later that year.

The pair then put an end to the split rumors by enjoying a date in London in June last year, and later that year she supported him when he was rushed to hospital with a ‘severe kidney infection’.

The former One Direction star fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Palmero hotel.

Police and prosecutors continue to investigate the tragedy, which is being treated as an “inconclusive death.”

Post-mortem examination revealed that he died from multiple injuries.

Chief investigator, prosecutor Marcelo Roma, has called for histopathological, biochemical and toxicological examinations to confirm whether the musician was drugged and intoxicated.

With results expected to take between 10 and 15 days, Argentina’s National Prosecution Service is currently considering his death as ‘inconclusive’, it has emerged.

His father Geoff has traveled to the Argentine capital to confirm the body is his son’s and arrange its repatriation to Britain once it is released by authorities. His funeral is expected to take place in November.

It was announced on Sunday that two employees of the hotel where Payne died were under investigation for supplying the star with drugs in the days leading up to the tragedy.

The men are accused of smuggling them into the singer’s suite at the hotel.

A cleaner and another staff member are said to have hidden the drugs in a Dove soapbox that detectives found in Payne’s room after his death.

White powder, crystals, tablets and other paraphernalia were discovered in the third-floor suite.

Police have sent the chemicals – believed to be cocaine and crack cocaine – for analysis.