In an inspiring move to calm shelter animals and hopefully improve their chances of finding forever homes, Denver Animal Shelter in Colorado has partnered with Wild Tunes, a nonprofit founded by 12-year-old Yuvi Agarwal that brings live music into animal shelters, according to CBS News Colorado.
In 2022, Yuvi visited a Houston animal shelter with his mother and took part in a program that involved reading to the animals. He then recalled how his own dog, Bozo, would relax and lie down when he played music for him — sparking the idea that music might soothe shelter animals even more than reading to them could.
Wild Tunes was launched just months later in 2023, when Yuvi was only 10. Since then, the program — and its network of volunteer musicians — has expanded to seven Texas shelters, one New Jersey shelter, and now a Colorado shelter.
“For the dogs, they come from very rough backgrounds,” Yuvi said. “This is generally a highly stressed environment for them. Music has been clinically shown to reduce that stress, and it also helps them rebuild their bridges with humans, and it helps them get adopted faster.”
The program couldn’t have launched at a more critical time, as over 1,100 animals have already been surrendered to Denver Animal Shelter this year, and about 220 animals are currently in its care.
Fortunately, after sharing a teaser about the initiative, the shelter received interest from 65 potential volunteers. Now, the shelter’s animals will be treated to live music every day of the week.
“I find it really touching that my music is able to make such a difference for the animals,” Yuvi said. “They honestly don’t care who you are. They just care that you’re doing something good for them. So I like that. That’s all that matters.”
Lady Freethinker applauds Yuvi Agarwal and Denver Animal Shelter for bringing comfort to shelter animals through the power of music and hopes to see more shelters nationwide adopt this program.
