Donna Wellman is to be commended for her generous donation to Little Victories animal shelter.

Her single donation of $250,000 has enabled the Cabell County group to break ground on a facility to house small animals.

In Putnam County, a group trying to build a new animal shelter estimates the cost will be $400,000. They've raised $100,000 so far.

Imagine what a single, large contribution could do for the Putnam County group's effort. That amount of money would take them from being a quarter of the way there to just $50,000 shy of their goal.

The main difference between the two efforts is that Little Victories is a no-kill shelter, and the shelter the Putnam County group is trying to build would not be.

And, unfortunately, no-kill shelters are always going to be more popular with animal lovers.

But not all shelters can be no-kill; it's not feasible. A no-kill shelter is a luxury.

Animal shelters are a matter of community infrastructure, and Putnam County needs a new one.

We hope potential donors won't withhold money from the Putnam County shelter because it isn't no-kill.

It would be a sad misinterpretation of their mission to see it as anything other than helping animals and animal lovers in Putnam County.