It’s often said music is the universal language of humanity. Now, a 12-year-old Houston boy is putting that to the test among an unlikely audience — man’s best friend. Yuvi Agarwal started playing keyboard when he was 4 and several years ago noticed his playing soothed his family’s restless golden doodle, Bozo. He grew curious if it could also help stressed homeless animals. With help from his parents, who both have backgrounds in marketing, he founded the nonprofit Wild Tunes in 2023 to recruit musicians to play in animal shelters. So far, he has enlisted about 100 volunteer musicians and singers of all ages and abilities to perform at nine shelters in Houston, New Jersey and Denver. “You don’t have to understand the lyrics to enjoy the music. Just enjoy the melody, the harmony and the rhythms. So it transcends linguistic barriers, and even it can just transcend species,” Agarwal said recently after playing hits like The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” and Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” on his portable keyboard at the Denver Animal Shelter. Agarwal, who was playing for an elderly miniature poodle named Pituca — Spanish slang sometimes used to describe a snob — said many of his four-legged listeners, which include cats, become excited when he enters their kennel. But after a few minutes of playing, they calm down. Some even go to sleep. A few stalls down from where he was jamming on his keyboard at the Denver shelter, volunteer Sarah McDonner played Mozart and Bach on her flute for Max, a 1-year-old stray boxer that tilted his head when she hit the high notes. “The animals having that human interaction in a positive way, I think, gives them something to look forward to, something that is different throughout their day,” said McDonner, a professional musician who met Argawal in Houston. She helped bring the program to Colorado after moving to Denver a few months ago. “I think it’s very important to give them something different from what they’re used to in their little tiny cages ... and makes them more adoptable in the long run,” McDonner said. While the effect of music on humans has been studied extensively, its role in animal behavior remains murky. Several studies suggest that classical music generally has a calming influence on dogs in stressful environments like kennels, shelters and veterinary clinics. But some researchers warn there is not enough data to support the claim. Research involving the effect of music on dogs often produces mixed results because there are so many variables: the setting; the volume, type and tempo of the music and the breed of the dog and its previous exposure to music. Some suggest a case-by-case approach to introducing music to animals. For Agarwal, his firsthand experience at shelters is undeniable evidence that music helps comfort stressed animals, and he plans to grow Wild Tunes into a nationwide program. The volunteers get something out of it, too, saying it’s a great way to practice in front of a nonjudgmental audience.