ملجأ الحيوانات قريب من العيادة.

In Arabic, present-tense sentences like this often do not use a separate verb for to be.

So:

ملجأ الحيوانات قريب من العيادة
literally looks like: The animal shelter near the clinic
but it naturally means: The animal shelter is near the clinic.

This is very normal in both Standard Arabic and Levantine-style sentences.

If you wanted was or will be, then you would usually add a verb:

• كان قريب = was near
• رح يكون قريب = will be near

Because ملجأ الحيوانات is an iḍāfa construction, often called a construct phrase.

That means:

• ملجأ = shelter
• الحيوانات = the animals

Together, they mean:

• the animals’ shelter
• or more naturally in English, the animal shelter

In this structure, the first noun usually does not take الـ.
The whole phrase becomes definite because the second noun is definite.

So:

• ملجأ الحيوانات = the animal shelter / the shelter of the animals

But الملجأ الحيوانات would be incorrect.

It is a noun + noun structure:

• ملجأ = shelter
• الحيوانات = the animals

This is how Arabic often expresses ideas that English expresses with:

• of
• a compound noun
• or an adjective-like noun

So ملجأ الحيوانات literally means shelter of the animals, but in natural English we usually say animal shelter.

This is extremely common in Arabic. For example, Arabic often says:

• باب البيت = the door of the house = the house door
• مدير المدرسة = the director of the school = the school principal

Because قريب agrees with the head noun, which is ملجأ.

The subject here is not just الحيوانات. The full subject is:

ملجأ الحيوانات = the animal shelter

The main noun in that phrase is ملجأ, and ملجأ is:

• singular
• masculine

So the predicate adjective is:

• قريب = masculine singular

That is why it is قريب, not قريبة and not a plural form.

Yes, من often means from, but after قريب it means near / close to.

So:

• قريب من العيادة = near the clinic
• more literally: close to the clinic

This is a very common combination:

• قريب من = near
• بعيد عن = far from

So in this sentence, من is part of the expression that tells location.

Yes, it could be indefinite, but the meaning would change.

• العيادة = the clinic
• عيادة = a clinic

So:

• قريب من العيادة = near the clinic
• قريب من عيادة = near a clinic

The sentence you were given refers to a specific clinic, or at least a clinic known from context.

A broad Levantine-style pronunciation could be:

malja l-ḥayawānāt ʔarīb min il-ʿiyāde

A few helpful notes:

• ملجأ is roughly malja
• الحيوانات is roughly il-ḥayawānāt or l-ḥayawānāt
• قريب may sound like ʔarīb in many urban Levantine accents, because ق is often pronounced as a glottal stop
• In some accents, ق may still sound more like q
• العيادة often ends with -e / -eh in Levantine pronunciation: il-ʿiyāde

So the written form is very standard, but the pronunciation can shift depending on the region.

It is definitely understandable and acceptable, but it sounds a bit neutral or slightly formal/standard.

In very everyday Levantine, people might also say:

• ملجأ الحيوانات جنب العيادة = The animal shelter is next to / beside the clinic
• ملجأ الحيوانات حدّ العيادة = The animal shelter is by the clinic

So قريب من العيادة is absolutely fine, but in casual speech you may often hear جنب or حدّ instead.

Yes, but the given order is the most straightforward for learners.

The sentence is:

• ملجأ الحيوانات = subject
• قريب من العيادة = predicate

So the normal, clear order is:

ملجأ الحيوانات قريب من العيادة

You may sometimes hear other word orders for emphasis, but this version is the best one to learn first because it is simple and natural.