A shelter dog named Hooch just might find his forever home thanks to a partnership between the Just Pizza & Wings Co. franchise in Amherst, New York, and the Niagara Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
Just Pizza has begun sending out pizza boxes with attached flyers that depict SPCA dogs that are up for adoption. Anyone who adopts a dog featured on one of the flyers receives a $50 gift certificate from the pizzeria.
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The promotion has garnered coverage from numerous online media outlets, from CNN to WKBW in Buffalo.
According to CNN, Mary Alloy, who co-owns the Just Pizza franchise with her children, launched the promotion after she started volunteering with the Niagara SPCA. The idea came from Kimberly LaRussa, an SPCA event coordinator. “Kimberly texted me one night and was like, ‘Hey, what would you think about putting pictures of the dogs on pizza boxes?’ and I just couldn’t wait,” Alloy told CNN. “We are all animal lovers here, so I got permission from the franchise to do it and immediately got to work.”
After the first day, a six-month-old puppy featured on the flyers got adopted.
The partnership has also been good for business, CNN reports. The promotion started on Friday, Feb. 28, and the restaurant had gone through 500 boxes by the time the story was published two days later. That’s compared to about 600 to 800 boxes in an average week.
“We hope our customers enjoy seeing the dog’s adorable faces as much as we do and that it helps these beautiful animals find the loving homes they deserve,” Alloy told WKBW.
