Reading to Shelter Animals: Boy Hits 100 Hours

An 11-year-old Jacksonville boy spent 100 hours reading to shelter animals and walked away with a sparkly gold paw-print sticker.

Nehemiah Turner, 11, reached the 100-hour mark at the Jacksonville Humane Society in Jacksonville, Florida, in June 2026, ABC News reported. He became the first child in the shelter’s Pawsitive Reading program to get there.

The program lets kids read aloud to shelter animals while they practice literacy, People reported. Turner’s grandmother went along with him to the shelter.

The first dog he read to

Turner remembered his very first session, and it was an emotional one. The first dog he read to was named Auggie.

“I went up there with my book, and I sat down with this dog named Auggie. I started to read to him, and after we had to leave, I started to cry, because I didn’t want to leave the humane society,” Turner told ABC News.

He kept coming back. Turner said he especially likes reading to dogs, and he hopes the sessions help them feel calm and find homes faster.

He described what the room feels like when he reads. “Soothing, feels good, calm, comforted animals, not like a whole bunch of barking is happening,” Turner told Action News Jax.

Shelter photos showed some of his favorite books, including “The Tyrell Show.”

He also had a regular listener named Hopper. The dog was adopted after nearly 400 days at the shelter.

A certificate and a gold sticker

The shelter marked the milestone with a certificate for 100 reading hours. It was signed in gold ink, Yahoo Lifestyle reported.

Turner also got a sparkly gold paw-print sticker. Program participants earn colored paw-print stickers as they reach reading-hour milestones, and the gold one is the grand prize.

Lawrence Nicolas, the shelter’s CEO, was clearly impressed. “That’s some serious, serious dedication for a young person like Nehemiah,” he told Action News Jax.

In a statement to People, Nicolas said, “Nehemiah’s story perfectly embodies our core belief at the Jacksonville Humane Society that generosity breeds joy.”

He told ABC News the story “reminds us that meaningful change often begins with one simple act of kindness.”

Nicolas added, “By dedicating his time to reading with animals here at the shelter, he has not only helped homeless pets but also inspired those around him to see the difference one person can make.”

The Jim Moran Foundation supports the Pawsitive Reading program, News4JAX reported.

Turner is not slowing down. “What’s next? I think we got to set up a new hour. So I think I set up like 110, 150, and 200 hours,” he told Action News Jax.