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The Steamboat Springs Animal Shelter is the best home some dogs have ever had.

"Here, they open up, become social and become a loving pet for a family," said Megan Wegroch, animal control officer for the city of Steamboat Springs.

Almost all the animals that come through the shelter find homes. In 2005, 195 dogs and 171 cats were adopted. Besides strays, many of the animals come to the shelter after being surrendered by their owners.

"We get surrendered animals when people get divorced and neither person wants it or when they move into a new home and can't have a dog," animal control officer Dawn Smith said. "Some people get new pets and the old ones don't respond right, and they just can't keep them anymore."

In 2005, 115 pets were brought to the shelter. "Everyone has a different life," Wegroch said. "You can't criticize, you can only find them a new home."

The shelter has a maximum capacity of 18 dogs and 25 cats if there is only one per kennel. The shelter gets about seven other animals a year, such as rabbits, ferrets, homing pigeons, parakeets and gerbils. The shelter's policy is to hold an animal for 21 days, before other options such as transfers and foster homes are looked into.

"We very rarely euthanize an animal," Wegroch said. "Only if they have a health problem, they are aggressive or are a danger to other dogs or people. We have a very low euthanasia rate."

The crematory, which opened in 2005, is operated out of the shelter to provide a service to the community and is a source of revenue for the shelter and the Animal Assistance League of Northwest Colorado.

"We get 95 percent of those animals through veterinarians. It is not our policy at all to put down an animal unless they are proven to be a danger or have a chronic illness that can't be repaired," Smith said. "The (Routt County) Humane Society recently paid for a cat's leg amputation. A lot of shelters would have put that animal down."

The shelter takes every measure possible to find good homes for all of its animals. Animals are listed on www.petfinder.com, the shelter advertises all of their animals every Saturday in the Steamboat Pilot & Today and the shelter uses foster homes. The volunteers provided by the Humane Society will research rescue organizations, make phone calls to arrange for transfers or exchanges and drive the animals to other shelters when necessary.

"We rely heavily on volunteers to do adoptions, release animals to their owners and to help run the shelter," Smith said. "What we really need is foster homes for pregnant cats and their kittens."

The Humane Society will help foster parents set up their homes to accommodate the animals and will assist them in any way possible. The animal shelter is always looking for foster homes for animals in various situations.

The shelter has a strong policy to not adopt out animals as gifts.

"Everyone in the family should meet the animal before it is decided on," Smith said. "Sometimes it takes trial and error, but they always end up in the right place."