ELYRIA, Ohio — The Friendship Animal Protective League in Elyria has added something unexpected to its routine: Live music performed for the shelter’s cats and dogs .

Two volunteers, Tom Flowers and Olivia Molina, have been playing harp and violin inside the shelter, offering the animals a calm, and sometimes entertaining, experience.

Flowers -- a longtime member of the Akron Symphony -- plays upright bass professionally. He also spent years as a school orchestra teacher in Elyria and at Lake Ridge Academy. A hobby harpist, Flowers said the instrument captured his interest years ago.

“I saw somebody playing a harp and I just loved the sound, so I just investigated it and decided I'd like to start playing it,” he said. “I haven't had too many lessons. I'm not very advanced, but I l

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