Music soothes the savage beasts in Vance County animal shelter

HENDERSON, NC (WTVD) -- A Vance County Animal Control officer grabbed his acoustic guitar and put on a show for the pups at the shelter, quieting their barks.

A video of this was shared on Facebook, and it racked up more than 5,000 shares overnight.

"I grew up playing music," officer Chad Olds said. "My father was crippled and taught my brother and I music instead of sports, so at an early age it was always a big part of my life."

"Well it was just kind of amazing," animal control chief Frankie Nobles said. "It was just kind of, kind of a joke I guess, in the beginning. He had his guitar here one morning, and was playing a little bit, and I said 'well, you ought to play for the animals.'"

The guitar-playing has worked so well to soothe the dogs that now the shelters are considering other musical methods such as radios to keep these pooches calm.

"It was amazing," Olds said. "Like my mom called me ... my grandmother passed away a few years ago. She was in the hospital; she was hurting so bad, and I was all the only one in the room, and she was just moaning, so I started singing to her and she stopped.

"And it reminded my mom of that dog looking at me the same way, so I think music is the universal language and it heals," he added. "It works. It's perfect."

Now they're hoping, all the love the video received online will turn into adoptions for their 43 dogs and 26 cats.

The shelter is running a special for free adult dog adoptions through Saturday, but in the meantime, while they're staying there, Olds is hoping to keep them comfortable.