Denver Animal Shelter adopts music program to help calm pets, get them adopted

CBS News

30-05-2025

Since the beginning of 2025, 680 dogs at the Denver Animal Shelter have been given up by their owners. That's only in the first five months, and more than all of 2019. That year, there were 540 dogs total.
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With so many pets at the services of the animal shelter, it has also required a way to keep them feeling happy and safe until they find new forever homes.
So Denver Animal Shelter is using music to make those pets waiting for adoption more comfortable and less stressed.
"I find it really touching that my music is able to make such a difference for the animals," Yuvi Agarwal 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."
The 12-year-old is combining his love for animals with his love for music to help shelter pets across the nation.
"My son has been an animal lover all his life," Priyanka Agarwal said. "So once, when I took him to read to the animals at a local animal shelter in Houston, after reading to the animals, he was like, 'Mama, can I come and play music for them?'"
That's how Agarwal, then just 10 years old, started Wild Tunes. The nonprofit brings together volunteers to play music for the animals.
"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."
In two short years, Wild Tunes has grown to more than 100 volunteers across three states, with the new addition of Colorado.
"It gives me goosebumps," Priyanka said . "He's really been a trailblazer in that sense. I'd like to be in as many states as possible over the next five years. I've just seen so many beautiful moments, like when a volunteer would start playing, and a pup would just come look at them. Their ears would perk up, or they'd kind of move their head. Difficult to describe, but it's really lovely."
Due to an overwhelming interest, Denver Animal Shelter is hosting an orientation for volunteers who have already applied on Saturday, May 31 and another on June 14.
"The response was immediately we love this idea," a Denver Animal Shelter spokesperson told CBS Colorado. "It's just like another way for us to connect with community members that we haven't connected with yet to join our volunteer program."
Yuvi calls it a win-win for the animals, the staff and the musicians. But for him, "Honestly making a difference in the animals is the best part," he said.