10-year-old boy plays music to calm down homeless dogs in an animal shelter: 'Was a wild success'

Yuvi Agarwal is out there proving to everyone that one doesn't have to be of a particular age in order to do a good deed. At just the age of 10, he is making a difference by positively impacting the life of the animals in a shelter, as reported by USA Today. The boy utilizes his piano talents every day to soothe the dogs in the animal shelter who have to always remain holed up in a small space. This action also helps him to foster and develop his own talent further.

Yuvi has always been a musically inclined individual as from the age of 4 he began to play piano. WFMY News 2 reported that by the next year, he was also trying his hands on drums. It was due to his own wish that his parents connected him to the animal shelter. He says about the decision, “I decided to basically play music for the animals. Definitely, not drums, a melodious instrument such as piano, guitar, steel pan and that will reduce their anxiety."

He got the idea to do something like this when his dog reacted positively to his piano tune. The fifth-grader has a dog named Bozo who instantly relaxes listening to Yuvi's tunes. His private shows take place in Houston Pets Alive! The organization is appreciative of this gesture. Executive Director Noelle Delgado informs that she was thrilled when Yuvi's parents contacted them, as there have never been any volunteers for something like this before in the organization.

In her interview with USA Today, she said "Yuvi is an incredible pianist, and the dogs just all stopped and stared and were so interested in what he was doing. It was a wild success, actually much better than we have ever anticipated. And so we kept asking him to come back and of course, he kept coming. Now it's just one of the things that we all look forward to just a break in the day, and definitely something for our dogs that gives them a little bit of life back."

Delgado believes that Yuvi's music brings true change and influence. It helps to calm the animals in the kennel. The team was looking for ways to deal with the stress and anxiety animals feel while staying in the kennel all day. In the past few months, the boy has visited the kennel many times both playing music for the canines as well as playing with them. The importance of such actions is essential especially now that the issue of strays has become so predominant in America. 

As per the data produced by Best Friends Animal Society for two consecutive years Texas has been leading in the entire country for animal shelter deaths. Delgado also states that euthanizing rates in Texas are the highest. All these point to an increasing need for looking after the welfare of animals. It is important that alongside physical as well as mental health of animals is looked after on a large scale. Hence, Delgado encourages people to speak up in city councils regarding the issue.