See this guy? He’s the sweetest, most loving cat I have ever shared my life with. He turned my husband, who never had a pet as child, into someone who loves animals and goes out of his way to be kind to them.

This is Dolan. And he was peering out of his cage at Broward County’s main animal shelter in Fort Lauderdale when I first saw him.

This same facility, and the county’s Animal Care and Regulation division that runs it, now is under fire for its practices and its conditions, as detailed in a story in the Sun-Sentinel today. Click here to read it.

On the comment board, I saw several posts suggesting the county should go to a no-kill shelter. My question: How in the world can that happen?

As it is, Broward had to euthanize –- OK, let’s be honest, had to kill -- more than half of the 20,000 animals it took in last year. Dolan was just a few days from being one of them when I adopted him, at age 3, nine years ago.

Given the numbers, it’s no secret that a countywide no-kill shelter would reach capacity pretty quickly. Once the inn is full, where will these pets end up when their owners decide they are done with them? On the street, where they may get sick and slowly die? Or where they may be hit by a car or attacked by a larger animals?

Seems a more realistic solution is a mandatory neuter and spay law, like they have in Palm Beach County.

And by the way: The reason the county has to put down so many companion animals is not the fault of its workers, even if the shelter’s administration is found to be flawed. It’s the fault of irresponsible owners – and of people who would rather pay hundreds of dollars for a designer pet than give a home to one in desperate need.

If you must buy a purebred, why not at least consider a 1-to-1 policy; for every pet you purchase, agree the next one will be adopted. Or go to one of the many breed-specific rescue groups out there. You can find them by going to Petfinder here , then go to "Find Animal Welfare Groups" in the purple box on the left.

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