Last week’s ribbon-cutting at the new Vicksburg Animal Shelter on Cedars Road was the last stop on a long journey years in the making that ended Thursday with a brand new facility to handle the care, adoptions and other services for stray animals in the River City.

An idea birthed and nurtured by Marilyn Terry and others back in 2016, Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the new facility represents the city’s commitment to the community, and that’s true. The way a municipality treats people and other living things that cannot care for themselves speaks volumes about its priorities. And the way the community itself stepped up to make this new facility a reality says just as much about those living in Vicksburg.

From a $50,000 donation earmarked for cat cages from the Friends of the City of Vicksburg Animal Shelter to a $10,000 private donation earlier this month from resident Karen Kirk on behalf of her late mother Barbara Crow Whiteman, locals weren’t shy about digging deep to support the new shelter. Missy Arnold, president of the Friends group, said the $50,000 donation came from a number of local fundraisers and donations, making the shelter a true communitywide effort.

And then there’s shelter director Kacie Lindsey and her staff, who have worked in less-than-optimal conditions for a long time, as the city, the Friends and other local contributors worked to make last week’s ribbon-cutting a reality.

Having an adequate shelter to help with the problem of stray animals is essential. Without the shelter, a community runs the risk of a number of problems, including potential health risks. And that’s before we even think about simply taking care of the animals that just need some love and attention; the ones that break our hearts when we see them wandering on the side of a roadway or scavenging for food in a dumpster.

The mayor is right that how we treat animals says a lot about who we are as a community. And seeing just how much time, money, effort and care has gone into making Vicksburg’s new animal shelter happen says a lot of good things about who we are in the River City.