Now Ms D'Ath is a battle-hardened politician but she was reduced to mush as she inspected the cages of the cats and dogs.

She had to be almost dragged away from each cage as cat after cat, and then dog after dog melted her heart.

Luckily for her minders she was unable to take any of the moggies or pooches as pets back to Brisbane.

There was a similar effect on the wider public when the Facility opened its doors on Saturday morning for an open day.

Members of the public took tours of the administration building and then the cleaning sheds before getting to the nitty gritty bit where all the cats and dogs were housed.

The cats, of course, were quiet and well behaved.

Some shyly retreated to their climbing frame while a few brave others marched up to the front of their cages to check out the hubbub in front of them.

The dogs, of course, were far more noisy and unruly.

Staff warned little visitors (and a few older visitors that should know better) not to stick their fingers into the pens, however tempting.

We learned the golden rule "never pat a dog you don't know" (Oops, should have learned that rule decades ago!).

And we walked the gauntlet of constant howling which roughly translated into either "pick me" or "feed me" depending on the doggo.

Staff do a good job to keep the mayhem under control.

While there is a good re-homing rate, many dogs at the facility still sadly fail to find their "fur ever friend" and need to be euthanised.

I understand there were a few successful adoptions from Saturday from Yvette D'Ath-types who couldn't resist the cuteness.

The real goal is for numbers in the Facility to be kept low and that means people not abandoning pets and making sure they keep them on their property.