Wild Tunes program soothes shelter animals through music

CARLSBAD, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) -- A nonprofit that aims to soothe animals in shelters through live music is coming to San Diego County.

Yuvi Agarwal, a young musician from Texas, founded the program Wild Tunes when he was just 10 years old. Recently, the nonprofit has partnered with County Animal Services.

Through the program, musicians of all skill levels can visit shelter animals and volunteer to play live music for them.

"I remembered that whenever I play music for my own dog, Bozo, he will always calm down, and that's how the idea for Wild Tunes was born," said Agarwal, who is now 12.

He learned that music lowers stress hormones in pets and, since then, has made it his goal to help as many pets as possible.

"Many of them have come from really rough backgrounds with humans and since they're associative learners, when they see a human, they're like, 'Oh, he's going to do something bad to me,'" Agarwal said. "When they see a human playing music for them, that helps them start to associate humans with good things again."

On Monday, Agarwal and other musicians kicked off the program in San Diego County with performances at the County Animal Services shelter in Carlsbad, located at 2481 Palomar Airport Road.

The Wild Tunes program will also be offered at the Bonita shelter, located at 5821 Sweetwater Road.