INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — On Wednesday, Indianapolis leaders cut the ribbon on a new shelter designed to improve care for thousands of animals each year.

Indianapolis Animal Care Services and Friends of Indy Animals hope the 61,000-square-foot Raymond Street facility will help distressed animals and give them the opportunities to learn how to socialize.

“Animals are incredible assets to all of us, and we need to treat them as such,” Mayor Joe Hogsett said.

The new shelter is more than twice the size of the old facility on Harding Street, with upgraded medical care, more room for animals, and spaces designed to reduce stress while...