SYDNEY, June 27 (Xinhua) -- One of the oldest running animal shelters in Australia's New South Wales state capital Sydney is getting a new home, touted as the first of its kind with facilities such as exercise yards for dogs, authorities said on Wednesday.
The Sydney Dogs and Cats Home has operated at a site in the city's Carlton suburb since 1946 but was given notice to relocate due to private redevelopment, according to a government statement.
The shelter will soon be moving to a new site in the Kurnell area by the middle of 2019 with the help of authorities, the state's Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.
"The shelter does such great work caring for lost and stray animals in Sydney, so we had to find some land," Berejiklian said.
"Last year the home reunited 862 lost pets with their owners and found new homes for 1,741 animals in their care, which is a tremendous effort by all the volunteers," she added.
The new shelter will be able to triple its intake of animals, the state's Minister for Lands and Forestry Paul Toole said.
"The new site will mean we can build a facility which includes kennels and exercise yards for our dogs, a larger cattery for our furry felines, an onsite veterinary clinic and community facility," the shelter's president Wendy Langley said.