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Though Vidalia Aldermen have not made an official call on the fate of dogs at the Vidalia Dog Pound, the police department has made its intentions clear — It will not run a shelter.

In the past, we were told by officials that no animals would be killed after the police department took over management of the shelter, and for now that is true. Notable efforts had been made to find homes for the dogs at Vidalia Dog Pound.

But ultimately, something has to be done about dogs not adopted or claimed so that the police department can still respond to dogs at large, whether vicious or not,

When officials arrived at the meeting Tuesday, it seemed a decision had already been made. Aldermen seemed to believe it was not a question of if dogs would be euthanized but when because the current set up does not allow for unlimited housing of unclaimed dogs.

Running a full-time shelter is not the police department’s job, so we can’t fault the police chief for not doing so. And budget is a serious consideration. Could the town fund a larger shelter operation and would the Vidalia community support it?

Running a shelter takes community support, municipality support, and at minimum a paid director to coordinate with a number of volunteers. It takes a community willing to donate, to foster, to put up fences and to adopt and not shop.

Vidalia officials have been skirting a public answer to this proposed dog pound policy for months, hiding from the truth until they couldn’t hide any longer.

Vidalia officials sought public input by putting this discussion on the town’s agenda and by advertising it to see who might show up to the meeting, but few people did.

Though the mayor, police chief or town council has never said they would do so, we would challenge Vidalia officials to look into what it would cost to run a town shelter or work in conjunction with another.

If the Town of Vidalia cannot create another shelter, it could at least form a cooperative endeavor with an existing one and support that shelter so as to increase its capacity and build the kennel space needed for Vidalia’s animals.

If the people of Vidalia want a public animal shelter instead of a pound, it is time to let their voices be heard.