Miranda Lambert is probably best known for a country music career spanning two decades, which has produced some truly iconic hits and earned her multiple high-profile awards — 35 Academy of Country Music Awards and 14 wins from the Country Music Association, plus three Grammys, just to name a few. She may also be pretty well-known for her lyrical fascination with crazy ex-girlfriends and the firearms they love.
However, if you work or live with rescue pets or otherwise support them, you might also know Lambert for her love of dogs. Since 2009, the Longview-born, Lindale-raised country star has been running her nonprofit MuttNation along with her mother, Bev, raising money for and awareness of pet adoption and rescue shelters with events such as her Cause for Paws benefit concerts, the annual 5K the Mutt March, and a line of pet products sold exclusively at Tractor Supply Company stores.
MuttNation’s various programs focus on different issues within the larger sphere of housing strays. Mutts Across America, for example, raises money specifically for shelters and rescue facilities, while Love Harder encourages adoption of more challenging canines, like large breed dogs, pit mixes, senior dogs, and dogs with disabilities. In 2023, the foundation added a program called It Takes Balls, an awareness and fundraising campaign in Tennessee which promotes spaying and neutering pets, as well as offering grants to qualifying low-cost spay-and-neuter animal shelters.
During its inaugural run, It Takes Balls raised more than $175,000, or enough money to help 50 spay-and-neuter programs in the Volunteer State. This year, Lambert decided to shift the campaign to her home state, focusing on East Texas, North Texas, and the Panhandle.
“I think everyone agrees that spay and neuter is the best way to keep pets out of overcrowded shelters and reduce pet homelessness,” she said in a public statement, “and, as I’ve said before, sometimes it literally takes balls to do the right thing. Please spay or neuter your pets.”
According to recent ASPCA stats, more than 3 million dogs enter animal shelters every year, and some 390,000 of them are euthanized due, in large part, to overcrowding. Encouraging pet owners to fix their furry friends helps keep these numbers down, and providing animal shelters with the funding to reduce spay-and-neuter costs goes a long way. This year, It Takes Balls awarded grants to 34 shelters in the Texas regions, including the Humane Society of North Texas, Dallas DogRRR, and Collin County Animal Services. And in addition to the It Takes Balls grants, MuttNation’s Mutts Across America gave a $5,000 grant to a shelter in each state. In Texas, it went to Justin-based Apollo Support & Rescue.
Given the ultimate recipients of Lambert’s charity work, it’s unlikely that it will eclipse the cultural impact of her albums — Sarah McLachlan and the ghost of Bob Barker will probably carry that cachet until the end of time — but in terms of spreading good in the world, making life better for dogs is pretty meritorious, and it’s nice to see a famous person leverage her visibility and resources to make a difference for helpless strays. For more information on how you can help, visit MuttNation.com.
With our monthly music listings column coinciding with our annual Creature Comforts animals issue, we asked our music contacts some squirrelly questions. Read the answers in Crosstown Sounds.
