Photo: broadwaycares/ Instagram
Cyndi Lauper, Ariana DeBose, Darren Criss and Bernadette Peters came together at the 2026 Fetch Pet Gala in New York City, turning a night of music and theatre into a major fundraising effort for animal rescue. The event, hosted by Fetch Pet Insurance at The Carlyle Hotel, raised more than $750,000 for four nonprofits, bringing the gala’s two-year total to more than $1.2 million, according to PR Newswire. The 2026 Fetch Pet Gala featured performances from Tony and Academy Award winners Bernadette Peters, Darren Criss and Ariana DeBose, along with a surprise appearance by Cyndi Lauper. The 2026 gala was the second annual Fetch Pet Gala, and its fundraising total pushed the event’s cumulative impact past $1.2 million in just two years.
Paul Guyardo, president and chief executive of Fetch Pet Insurance, said the star power of the gala is what has made that possible. Adam Goldberg, founder of Stronger Shot, said the goal was to help people see shelter pets for who they really are, beyond their circumstances. Seeing the dogs go from a shelter photo session to the gala’s green carpet, he said, showed what can happen when brands come together to make adoption more visible and impactful. Mark Mao, founder and chief executive of SATELLAI, said the company was proud to extend its mission beyond the gala by providing Collar Go devices to families adopting dogs from North Shore Animal League America.
The event was hosted by Fetch Pet Insurance and sponsored by SATELLAI, an AI-powered pet wellbeing company. The gala’s purpose was clear from the start. It brought together pet industry leaders, animal welfare advocates and celebrity guests for an evening that celebrated the human-animal bond while raising money for pets in need. The two-year total is a sign that the gala is building momentum. What began as a one-night fundraiser is now establishing itself as a recurring platform for animal welfare advocacy in New York. He described the event as a way to bring the pet community together around the human-animal bond.