Dogstar Afternoon: Keanu Reeves Helps PetSet Clear $1.5 Million

Laura Goodson, Priscilla Bardonaro and Marla Hurley (photo by Priscilla Dickson)

By Jeff Gremillion

Keanu Reeves brought Dogstar to Thompson Houston on Sunday, and PetSet left with more than $1.5 million.

Le Brunch, the group’s annual fundraiser to end companion animal homelessness, drew celebrities, city leaders and longtime animal advocates under the theme “Farther, Together.” Reeves played with bandmates Bret Domrose and Rob Mailhouse to close the afternoon. Mayor John Whitmire was in the room, along with actors David Chokachi, Amy Bailey, Danielle Vasinova, Isaiah LaBorde and Marie Wetherall.

PetSet honored Cathy Bissell, founder of BISSELL Pet Foundation, for a prevention-first approach to shelter overcrowding. Through Empty the Shelters, the foundation has helped save more than 400,000 animals. Fix the Future has funded more than 500,000 spay and neuter surgeries.

“Cathy has changed countless lives through her commitment to animals, but what we admire just as much is the way she brings people together around solutions,” says Tena Lundquist Faust, co-president of PetSet.

Gabrell and Hopper took the 2026 Community Hero Award, a nod to one person stopping for one dog. Co-president Tama Lundquist called the afternoon bigger than any single guest. “The energy in the room was a beautiful reflection of what can happen when people come together around a cause they believe in,” she says.

Over 20 years, PetSet has funded work at more than 120 animal welfare groups, widened access to spay and neuter care, vaccines and emergency treatment, and moved thousands of animals out of crowded shelters. A silent auction and a live auction, including a VIP Texas gameday, ran before Dogstar took the stage.

Dogstar Afternoon: Keanu Reeves Helps PetSet Clear $1.5 Million

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