Martin Agee is a violinist that those enamored with the instrument have surely heard of. He himself becomes one with his music, and he shares it with many. But no performance is more valuable than the one he shares with his four-legged friends at ASPCA.
As it turns out, dogs are soothed by Bach and Beethoven. It’s so amazing to see someone who performs with Hugh Jackman on his world tour doing such a humble thing. He’s even currently working on the Broadway production of West Side Story.
With so many big things to do with his life, like hang out with Paul McCartney, how would someone like Agee get involved with these canines in need?
Well, he became a volunteer at the ASPCA a little more than two years ago. “It was at a point in my life that I wanted to reconnect with animals,” he says. “It was a few years after Melody, my greyhound, died. My schedule keeps me busy. Volunteering was a good way to be around dogs. I took the ASPCA’s orientation training and became an adoption counselor.”
Wow! What a way to live! He started off with an interest in reading to animals. Some of these animals are rather skittish while others are in pain.
Martin Agee enjoyed watching the dogs being read to as it did indeed calm them greatly. “A friend suggested I should bring my violin and play for them,” he said. “It wasn’t done before. I thought listening to the violin would relax them and keep them calm. The people at the ASPCA gave me the go-ahead and I’ve been performing here when I’m not working. I come about once every other week. It’s been emotionally rewarding.”
As soon as Agee steps through those doors, the dogs bark, scratch at the glass, and more. But then he starts playing. “I get immediate reactions,” he explains. “The barking dies down the minute my bow touches the strings. Some will sing along. I take that as a compliment.”
While in his business, Agee plays show tunes for musicals and such, when with the dogs, he sticks with classical. “The Baroque solo violin compositions work because there’s nothing missing,” he says.
“I’ll never forget my first day,” he says. “Many of these dogs have been traumatized. Here they enter a process of recovery. We’re being kind to them. Some days, I have to hold back the tears. The dogs I play for, it’s at different stages of their recovery, have been injured and/or neglected. The reactions I get from them, wagging tails, singing, and watching them lie down and relax, is stunning to me. Not all of the dogs react in the same manner. They do seem happy.”
“We see animals who have endured long term neglect resulting in emaciation and chronic neglected medical conditions,” Kris Lindsay, Senior Director, of the ASPCA’s Animal Recovery Center (ARC) and Canine Annex for Recovery and Enrichment (CARE), says. “We also see animals who have been physically abused and have suffered traumatic injuries such as multiple bone fractures. Some animals require extended crate rest periods so that their fractures can heal. As many of these dogs aren’t even ready to be walked by volunteers, opportunities to socialize through other means are invaluable and help them to trust again. Martin generously donates his time and skill as a performer to our dogs that need the most love, and it’s incredible to see these animals transform into loving pets through our work and the help of socialization activities.”
While the dogs benefit greatly from this act of charity, Agee believes he’s the lucky one. “I feel great playing for them,” he says. “I get attached to a few and [I feel] happy when they’re moved out because that means they’re better.”
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