Broadway Stars Shine and Shelter Dogs Take Center Stage at the Fetch Pet Gala!

When a room fills with Broadway stars, an evening at The Carlyle could easily become another glamorous New York event. But on October 19, the spotlight won’t be on those performing onstage; it will be shining on shelter dogs looking for homes.

The second annual Fetch Pet Gala will bring musical superstars Bernadette Peters, Darren Criss, and Ariana DeBose together for a night of performances, dinner, and fundraising in support of pets and the people who care for them. Hosted by Fetch Pet Insurance, the gala has already sold out, with an overflowing waitlist.

The evening will begin with a Green Carpet featuring adoptable dogs from North Shore Animal League America, one of the country’s largest no-kill animal rescue and adoption organizations. The dogs will have a chance to bathe in the limelight and meet potential adopters before guests head into Café Carlyle for dinner and performances.

Lights, Camera, Adoption!

For anyone who works with animals, the purpose behind a night like this is easy to recognize. Giving a pet a second chance often takes much more than finding an empty spot on someone's couch. There may be veterinary care, foster placement, rehabilitation, transportation, or other support needed before a dog or cat is ready to start over.

Sometimes, getting an animal ready for adoption means more than just a makeover. Addressing problems that have been overlooked for months or even years, like dental disease, skin conditions, parasites, chronic pain, and behavioral challenges can all become part of the journey toward a new home.

The same is true for pets already living with families. When people face illness or financial hardship, keeping up with a pet's needs can become difficult, even when the bond between them remains as strong as ever.

For many pet parents, the idea of giving up a beloved animal is heartbreaking. But when money is tight or a family is dealing with a serious illness, even routine veterinary care can suddenly feel out of reach.

That is where the Fetch Pet Gala becomes about much more than a glamorous night in New York. Behind the performances and the photographs are animals waiting for a second chance and families desperate to keep caring for the pets they love. The money raised can help transform lives in more ways than one.

Putting Rescue Dogs Center Stage

For these dogs, walking the Green Carpet is much more than a glamorous photo opportunity. They are there in search of a happy ending to their story.

North Shore Animal League America works with animals rescued from overcrowded shelters, puppy mills, and natural disasters, preparing them for adoption by providing veterinary care and other support. Since its inception, more than 1.2 million animals have been saved through the organization’s efforts.

Putting adoptable dogs in the middle of an evening filled with Broadway stars is a pretty effective way to remind us that rescue animals deserve their own spotlight, too. And maybe, just maybe, their Broadway moment will end with a happily ever after.

From Broadway to the Dinner Table

Once the Green Carpet wraps up, guests will move into Café Carlyle for dinner and performances from Peters, Criss, and DeBose.

Peters brings a particularly strong connection between Broadway and animal welfare. She co-founded Broadway Barks with Mary Tyler Moore, an organization that brings Broadway performers and animal shelters together to help dogs and cats find homes.

Criss and DeBose bring their own Broadway credentials to the evening. Criss, known by many for playing Blaine Anderson on television’s musical superhit, ‘Glee’, recently earned a Tony Award for his performance in Maybe Happy Ending. Not to be outshone, DeBose won the 2022 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story.

The evening will conclude with the Fetch Pet After Party and another performance from a surprise guest. Last year it was John Legend, so the bar has been set pretty high for this year’s mystery guest! 

Behind the Curtain: Where the Money Will Go

The celebrities and performances may be what catch people's attention, but the real purpose of the gala is fundraising.

The 2026 gala will benefit four organizations: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Broadway Barks, Wags & Walks, and North Shore Animal League America. Together, their work touches different parts of the challenges facing pets and the people who care for them, from shelter and adoption services to helping families continue caring for their animals during difficult circumstances.

Broadway Cares is supporting another side of the human-animal relationship. Through grants to organizations around the country, it helps people living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses, including programs that help them continue caring for their pets. When someone is dealing with a serious illness or financial hardship, paying for a pet's food, medications, or veterinary visits can become difficult. For veterinary professionals, this is a familiar reality: the ability to pay for care can sometimes determine what happens next for an animal, even when the family desperately wants to do what is best for them. Yet giving up a beloved animal can be another painful loss at an already difficult time. Helping people meet their pets' basic needs can allow those animals to stay where they belong: with the people who love them.

Wags & Walks focuses on rescue dogs and reducing euthanasia, while Broadway Barks works to connect shelter animals with adoptive families. North Shore Animal League America brings the rescue and adoption side directly into the gala through the dogs appearing on the Green Carpet.

Beyond the Night

The Fetch Pet Gala is still a relatively new event, but its first year showed what this combination of entertainment and philanthropy can accomplish.

The Fetch Pet Gala is part of a greater charitable effort from Fetch Pet Insurance. The company says it has raised more than $14.6 million for organizations and initiatives supporting pets, animals, and the people who care for them.

For the 2026 event, the formula remains much the same: bring people together, put rescue animals in the spotlight, and turn an evening of entertainment into funding for organizations doing hands-on work. And ultimately, that is what makes a night like this worth paying attention to. 

The dresses, performances, and famous faces will make for a wonderful night, but the heart of the evening is in the animals waiting for a family and in the people doing everything they can to keep their pets healthy and by their side. After all, a pet's home is more than a place to live. It is where they are loved, cared for, and, very often, where they are part of the family.

The Green Carpet may be where the night begins, but for the dogs waiting for homes and the families trying to care for their pets through difficult circumstances, the impact of the evening will extend well beyond one fun night in New York.