Miranda Lambert Starts COVID-Relief Fund for Musical Pets

Check out the MuttNation Fund and its big-hearted mission.

Written by Chris Parton
Miranda Lambert Starts COVID-Relief Fund for Musical Pets
Miranda Lambert; Photo credit: Jamie Wright

Miranda Lambert is stepping up to help her fellow music-industry pros through the COVID-19 pandemic — and she’s doing it in a way no one else has considered. She just announced a relief fund to help struggling musicians and more pay their veterinary bills.

With the vast majority of musicians unable to earn money through their primary income source — live music touring — and others out of work as a result, Lambert knows there are countless pets out there that still need medical attention. So she took her MuttNation nonprofit and partnered it with the Waggle Foundation to form the MuttNation Fund, and will use it to make sure no one has to choose between saving a furry member of the family or putting food on the table.

“It really hit home when my backup singer and close friend Gwen’s shelter dog, Earl, became extremely ill in early March, just as the pandemic was taking hold and our tour had to stop,” Lambert explains. “After taking him to several vets, she was told Earl had a rare liver disorder. Then there were multiple hospital stays, relapses, more hospital stays … Earl is doing great now, but he’ll require ongoing treatment for the rest of his life. It was such an unexpected major expense at an already tough time. So, it got me thinking that there must be a lot more people whose careers in the music industry have been on pause due to lack of live performance opportunities, and who are struggling with their pets’ vet bills. Because music and mutts are my two passions, I knew I had to do something and thought that starting this fund would help both the music community that’s been so supportive of me, and their pets.” 

Lambert and MuttNation are jumpstarting the fund with a generous matching grant donation, and after that it will be sustained through online donation.

Anyone who is a member of the music community who has a dog or a cat with medical needs and has been impacted by COVID-19 can apply for the relief fund, including music community members like musicians, singers, songwriters, engineers, producers, management, music venue staff and other music industry employees. You can apply for support here: https://wagglefoundation.org/muttnation/