MOUNT VERNON – Aubrey Holloway, with a book in hand, sits on a gray blanket reading to Bellasaurus.
Bellasaurus is a retriever pitbull mix who’s found her way to Knox County Dog Shelter in search of a home.
Holloway and Bellasaurus found each other through WAGS, a program destined to bring Mount Vernon Middle School students and shelter dogs together for an hour of reading a week.
The group, led by Mount Vernon Middle School English teacher Trudy Debolt, has read to Knox County shelter dogs for 10 years, honoring forgotten and abandoned Vietnam War service dogs.
The passion project was sparked by the book “Cracker!” which follows the tale of a Vietnam Service dog of the same day and his carrier.
When American servicemembers were ordered to leave Vietnam, military dogs were deemed “expandable surplus equipment” thus left to the South Vietnamese.
“What we love is kids make this trip on a Saturday and choose to do this,” Debolt said. “They could be doing anything else.”
Debolt said students participating in WAGS renew their faith in the future generation.
Though Debolt’s students who participate in WAGS are sixth graders, seventh grader Austin Higgins who was in Debolt’s class last year, continues to participate in the program.
“I do it because when I see these dogs, I try to give them as much hope as I can,” Higgins said.
For Higgins, it’s about brightening a dog’s day.
“I’ll try to keep doing this as long as I can,” Higgins said.