Miranda Lambert is giving animals in need a little love this Valentine’s Day, thanks to her MuttNation Foundation. Back in December, MuttNation announced its third annual Share the Love program, which invites people who adopted a pet from, fostered a pet through, or volunteered at an animal shelter in 2020 to nominate their local shelter, and the foundation has now announced its winners.
The 15 winners were selected from over 14,000 entries, and each will receive a $1,000 MuttNation grant. This year’s entries were up significantly from previous years, with 2,000 entries in 2019 and 500 in 2018. “Shelter pets and the people who care for them have the biggest hearts and sharing the love for Valentine’s Day feels so right,” Lambert said in a statement, via PEOPLE. “It’s amazing to have such an overwhelming response to our program. The number of people who participated demonstrates the commitment and value that community members provide to their local shelters. And, especially given how difficult this year’s been — it just means so much.”
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Lambert founded MuttNation in 2009 with her mom, Bev, and the organization aims to promote and facilitate the adoption of shelter pets, encourage spay and neuter for all pets and spread awareness about the importance and beneficial impact of these actions. “We’ve been able to help with natural disasters and help shelters renovate, we kind of have our hand in everything,” Lambert told PopCulture.com. “That’s why we wanted to start it because we wanted control of where the money that we raised could go to. My mom used to be a private investigator, so she vets it pretty hard, wherever we give money to.”
The Texas native is mom to numerous pets of her own, including dogs, cats, rabbits and horses, and she told PEOPLE that her pets are “doing well!” “Delta, Cher, and Bellamy have been traveling with us on our recent airstream adventures,” she said, referring to her trips with husband Brendan McLoughlin. The duo recently returned to Nashville after traveling to Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. “My pets always help keep me grounded and help keep things in perspective,” Lambert said. “It’s been nice to have some more time at home with all of them this past year. They make me smile!” See the 15 recipients of MuttNation’s Share the Love grant below.
- Abandoned Animal Rescue of Magnolia, Texas, entered by Joni McLelland
- Angels Among Us of Alpharetta, Georgia, entered by Leslie Kinkade
- Black Dog Rescue of Cheyenne, Wyoming, entered by Emily Smith
- Corridor Animal Rescue of Houston, Texas, entered by Dawn Venditelli
- Delta Animal Shelter of Escanaba, Michigan, entered by April Chartre
- Helping Hands of Topeka, Kansas, entered by Rebekah Williamson
- McKamey Animal Center of Chattanooga, Tennessee, entered by Michele Hall
- Nicholas Pet Haven of Tyler, Texas, entered by Beckey Woodward
- Orphan Angels Cat Sanctuary of Erie, Pennsylvania entered by Jennifer Ciotti
- PAWS of Chicago, Illinois, entered by Kenny Kwan
- Pet Friends of Irwin, Pennsylvania, entered by Susan Reitz
- Pet Pal Animal Shelter of St. Petersburg, Florida, entered by Gary Simmons
- Puppy Haven Rescue of Tulsa, Oklahoma, entered by Lorie Vincent
- Sioux Falls Area Humane of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, entered by Samantha Kalved
- Second Chance Dog Rescue of San Diego, California, entered by Lynn Connot
