It's been written that "music soothes the savage beast"…but now we know that reading soothes the shelter dog. Students in the Keystone to Discovery After School Program in Hamilton, MT travel once a week to read to the dogs and cats that are waiting at the Bitter Root Humane Association to be adopted. "The dogs really respond to the kids. It really helps to have somebody talk to them," Bitter Root's lead animal care attendant, Charlotte, explains.

The students are a part of the nonprofit summer and after-school project for behaviorally or academically at-risk youth. The program not only helps to soothe the animals, but it also gives the kids a chance to work on their reading skills.