Foxon Recreation League Cub Scout Pack 408 visited the Dan Cosgrove animal shelter on Thursday. The visit was in support of the Reading to the animals at DCAS program. Reading to animal programs help shelter animals maintain social interaction with humans. This will help calm them around people if they have had previously been abused and ease the inherent anxieties animals have when living in a shelter. These reading programs help keep the animals socially ready for adoption.

Reading to your own or shelter animals has shown to improve cognitive reading skills in young kids. Boys and girls in Pack 408 range from kindergarten to 6th grade. By the end of Thursday’s visit scouts touted to each other about how many and which animals they read to.

Pack 408 normally meets on Wednesday at the old Hays school next to The Pitt. For more information check out the East Haven Pack 408 Facebook page

The Dan Cosgrove animal shelter in Branford has multiple opportunities to volunteer. They also have a large number of animals up for adoption.