Catastrophic events really do seem to bring out the best in some people, and in this story, that person is Ray Donovan star Liev Schreiber. Help for the victims of Hurricane Harvey has come from many famous sources, including Kevin Hart and Sandra Bullock, who encouraged cash donations to the American Red Cross. While lots is being done for the people of Texas displaced from the storm, many animals also lost their homes – and their families. Organizations like New Jersey’s Home for Good Dog Rescue are trying to find these now homeless pets new forever homes.
The 49-year-old actor was backstage at Live with Kelly and Ryan on Wednesday when he immediately became smitten with two dogs (from the same litter) who were with a group of pups from Houston. They were sent to New York, where shelters are helping with the influx of dogs arriving in Harvey’s wake. Liev, ever the good father to sons Sasha, 10 and Kai, 8, immediately decided to adopt the puppies for his kids. He Facetimed with his ex, Janey-E Jones herself, Naomi Watts, and his sons, who also fell instantly for the cute canines. And now, the dogs formerly known as Chestnut and Hazelnut are proud members of the Watts-Schreiber family. Check out the adorable video and try not to cry happy tears.
As Liev took the stage for his interview, he told the show’s hosts that one of the producers also wanted to take one of the pups home. Liev made his case by stating, “My sons want a dog and I found the perfect dog, but one of your producers already wants my dog. Think of my poor 10-year-old son sitting at home right now, looking at the television, weeping for his beloved [puppy].” Of course, the actor prevailed. Good for him, as who would want to separate those two adorable balls of fur?
After the show, he posted a photo on Instagram of the dogs heading home with him. He captioned the snap, “Look what I just got. Couple of orphans from Houston checking out the Big Apple for the first time. Thank you #kellyandryan #harvey.” I’ve always loved Liev, but now I love him even more.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to chopping these onions. By the way, I will gladly take that “big dog” in that video if he’s still available.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com
LOVE!!
I hated to see he and Naomi break up after so many years. Naomi is one of the most beautiful and prolific actresses over 45.
Hope the kids love the puppies.
Love this! Those puppies are so cute, two lucky little boys and puppies!
Ugh! Yet another reason to LOVE LIEV!!
Makes me so happy I met him. He was super nice and actually held a conversation with me.
Corey I would take that big dog too if I could. I would take them all but esp the big one. He looked so sweet.
If NYC gets to crowded at the shelters send them 25 minutes north to Westchester. All our shelters are no kill shelters.
I want all those dogs.
Yay!
I’d add that the dogs/cats being sent north and to other rescues are the ones that were already in the various shelters in Houston before Harvey. They are being sent to other rescues to make room for lost animals after the storm. These are not the lost animals of evacuees.
Yes. Michigan just got 19 kittens from Houston for the same reason, making room for Houston area dogs and cats that got separated from their families.
So glad to hear that. I grieve for the pets and their families who were separated by the storm. I hope they find each other again. In the same situation I would go nuts worrying about my babies. Hope all the Houston arrivals find homes. And thanks, Liev!
Thanks for adding that! I was wondering if these dogs already had an owner 🙂
Oh good, I was thinking about how sad some people will be if their pets are already being adopted out so quickly, just because they aren’t with their owners right now. This makes me feel better.
Thank you for clarifying, I was afraid someone would see their dog they’ve been desperately missing on twitter with a new owner.
Maybe these dogs were, but not all of the animals being shipped out are orphaned or homeless. Nor were all of these animals already in shelters. There are a lot of opportunistic retail rescues on the ground here that are taking advantage of the confusion and the fact that many owners and vets lost everything in the flooding. It is awfully hard to prove ownership when you cannot immediately access photos and vet records of your pet.
I volunteer with a local AKC breed club rescue. Because FEMA awarded the contract for pet shelters to H$U$, they refuse to communicate or work with us AT ALL about Cavaliers in their shelters. Yet we are often the first point of contact for owners looking for their lost dogs. I know of at least three Cavaliers who have already been transferred to out-of-state rescues but were NOT in shelters or being fostered by other rescues here before the storm. They clearly were someone’s pets, and the odds of the original owners getting them back now are minuscule.
Even if original owners come forward to reclaim their pets, I have already seen some Facebook posts by extremely judgmental rescue volunteers who do not particularly want to return animals because the owners are now living in a crowded house or on limited incomes. They seem to feel that it is better to steal these pets/coerce the owners into relinquishing them and give them “better lives” elsewhere. No compassion for the owners and their suffering at all. I have also seen numerous anguished posts of people who were at work when the flooding hit, and they could not get back to their animals. They have no idea if their animals are dead or were rescued, and despite their best efforts searching, they may never know. After 30 days found animals can legally be considered abandoned, but with all the moving and transferring between rescue groups, owners face overwhelming odds of ever seeing their pets again.
Houstonian here – could you name some of the “retail rescues” you mentioned? I’m curious and don’t want to donate time or money to any shady operation.
I love this. And I love rescue terriers (I have two).
I love him!
So cute!!!
Happy tears this morning…loved this, now I want to go home and hug my three doggies!
So scruffy! Want.
Love a happy ending for homeless pets! There are so many needing homes on any given day. And keeping two pups together is wonderful.
I wish they would get back together.
Nice to see an ex-couple still getting along and co-parenting in a way the children still feel safe and loved within their new family unit dynamic. I think he’s taking the boy dog home and Naomi is taking Chestnutt, but he said the dogs will be together a lot. That’s how I understood it when he was talking to Kelly. How it plays out, maybe both end up going back and forth with the kids, I don’t know. I don’t think they live all that far apart in NYC. He’s usually on his bicycle when he goes to her home, so can’t be far. He really wanted those doggies. LOL The kids went even crazier over the black-and-white dog, but Liev was already in love with Chestnut and Hazelnut
He got so much grief on twitter for going to Comic-Con with sons and his youngest son dressed as Harley Quinn and made up. That’s who he wanted to be.. He has a photo on his twitter of the little boy with his makeup still on giving his big brother a kiss, and people were tweeting him and calling him sick, on and on. He didn’t care. He says they are innocent children.
I posted that twitter picture here at the time. I thought it was great. He absolutely looked like Harley.
If you are looking to help pets, both from the Harvey and Irma, Wings of Rescue has been flying cargo planes of animals out of the affected area since a few days before Harvey hit. They then immediately swung into Irma and had flown out over 400 from Florida and Puerto Rico by a few days ago. They will continue to do so. They fly the animals to rescue partners in unaffected areas (they aren’t just giving the animals to random people). This is their website, I also strongly encourage following them on Facebook. They can only do what they have the finances to do.
https://www.wingsofrescue.org/
Or you could help local rescues and shelters recover instead so animals do NOT have to be flown all over the country. Contrary to popular belief, the A$PCA and H$U$ do not meaningfully support local shelters. The Houston Human Society, the Houston SPCA, and Citizens for Animal Protection do great work and are in Houston. They also will be able to direct donors to similar local groups in other affected communities.
You assume that I will not do both. I am HEAVILY involved in dog rescue and am not really sure why the snark at my comment. Yes, let’s just let them drown now and sort it out later. The dogs that they are pulling out are dogs that were already there and they are making room for the influx of dogs that will be separated from their owners.
For the record, I do not support the HSUS in general (or ASPCA or PETA), they are simply partnered in this with Wings of Rescue. I have given heavily to my local rescues who are driving down there with supplies and bringing dogs back. I am fully sponsoring some of the dogs medical needs on an individual basis. In addition to the 12% of my total income I gave to individual dog rescues last year along with the (free) behavioral training I offer. Don’t come at me.
Well, that escalated quickly.
I was not coming for you. I was simply pointing out that there are plenty of local rescues and shelters that need donations and are NOT getting any real help from the national animal rights organizations.
But if you cannot handle a simple difference of opinion or as you call it “snark,” perhaps this is not the website for you. Just a thought.
Love that video! What a great thing they did. The kids and Naomi getting so excited on the other end of the phone was so cute.
Nice, Liev! I caught him on colbert the other night. He’s funny and seems pretty down to earth.
Rock on, Liev, Naomi, kiddies., doggies. I love happy endings. This made my day.
They’re adorable, but I don’t think they’re three months old. They look like full grown dogs to me.
Also Liev is adorable, but we all knew that.
Hmmm
Love Liev but owning sibling pups is not easy. Their bond from being litter mates is stronger than any bond a human can make – it makes them very difficult to train. Factor the trauma from Harvey into the equation and I would have picked the 2nd from any one of the other dogs available in that room. Bob looked pretty cute.