Chris Evans Marks National Rescue Dog Day in Heartwarming Fashion

By Ashley Turner

Chris Evans' devotion to man's best friend is evident in a heartwarming Instagram photo with Dodger, his pet dog. The actor, 40, celebrated National Rescue Dog Day on May 20 by sharing a photograph – Evans can be seen driving a car as Dodger comfortably rests his head on the Captain America star's shoulder.

Evans captioned the picture"#NationalRescueDogDay," with a red heart emoji. His celebrity friends raved over the photo in the comments section. Jamie Chung wrote, "The best pup😍," and Octavia Spencer added, "Awwwwwwwwwww 😮😍."

Evans adopted Dodger during the filming of the drama Gifted in April 2017. "One of the last scenes we were filming was in a pound, a kennel," He told People not long after adopting Dodger. "I foolishly walked in and I thought, 'Are these actor dogs or are these real up for adoption dogs?' And sure enough they were, so I was walking up and down the aisles and saw this one dude and he didn't belong there." 

"I snagged him and he's such a good dog," Evans added. "They aged him at about one, he acts like a puppy, he's got the energy of a puppy, he's just such a sweetheart, he's such a good boy. He loves dogs, he loves kids, he's full of love."

During the "The Cast of the Avengers Unite for Democracy with Senator Kamala Harris" live Marvel fan Q&A in 2020, Evans said that as a Boston native, he encountered some ribbing for his dog's name. "I get a lot of flack for this because everyone's like, 'I thought you were from Boston,'" Evans said. "It has nothing to do with the [Los Angeles Dodgers]." He chose the name Dodger after one of his favorite Disney movies. 

"When I first saw him, he was in a shelter, and I said man, he really looks like the dog Dodger," Evans said. "I don't know if you ever saw Oliver & Company. It's a bit of a deep cut. It's an animated film from the early '90s, maybe late '80s [released in 1988]. There was a character who was the artful Dodger. He looked like Dodger. I said man, he really looks like that dog Dodger."

Billy Joel provided the voice of Dodger in Oliver & Company. Evans was apprehensive about the name at first, imagining angry baseball fans. In the end, he felt Dodger just fit the dog too well to change it. "I was thinking of other named, but I just couldn't get that one out of my head," Evans said. "I just thought, you know what? I'm not going to push this one around. I'm just going to let it stick."

Evans' boxer mix has been a staple of his social media feeds and is why he joined Instagram in May 2020. "I feel like such an old man. I'm so late to the party," added the actor. "You know what it is? I had too many good pictures of my dog. I was like, they're being wasted in my phone. I need to put these somewhere."

Evans posted a video taken when he met Dodger at the shelter in honor of National Rescue Dog Day in 2021. He captioned the post, "Happy #nationalrescuedogday. "This is the moment I met Dodger. I was filming a movie in Savannah, and the scene took place at a shelter. I had no intention of rescuing a dog that day, but the minute I saw him, I knew he was coming home w me." he added, "There are so many loving animals at shelters who are in desperate need of a home. Visit a shelter and leave with a best friend."

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