New York pizza shop earns praise for promoting dog adoption through thoughtful flyers

Adopting rescued animals is an act of compassion that transforms lives, both for the animals and their new human companions. Rescued animals often come from difficult backgrounds, having faced neglect or mistreatment. When someone chooses to adopt them, they provide a second chance at a better life, filled with love, care and understanding. Mary Alloy had taken it upon herself to do anything she could to help some of the pets at her local shelter Niagara Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) find a comfortable place to spend their lives. Her franchise Just Pizza & Wing Co. began sending customers flyers stuck upon their pizza box which introduces one dog who needs adoption. This gesture garnered a massive response from her customers, reports CNN.

Mary Alloy and her children began volunteering with the Niagara Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) some years ago when they came to know of the problem animals face in adoption. During her volunteering, she witnessed how so many dogs that entered the shelter struggled with finding their forever home. In order to solve this issue she began brainstorming with Kimberly LaRussa, an SPCA event coordinator. Alloy recalled, “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 got to work and took the required permissions in order to get the plan in motion. Quickly, they began to send customers pizza orders with photos of sweet pups that were in search of home. The reaction was astounding, to say the least, with many coming forward to take these puppies in their home. The day after the posters were sent a 6-month-old puppy named Larry got adopted from the shelter. Niagra SPCA's website also went on to sell t-shirts and hoodies with faces of dogs eating pizzas.

LaRussa in her interview with CNN expressed her happiness at the response they have gotten, “We’ve had a tremendous amount of interest and support from the community and beyond since the story went viral on Friday. Many people want to order a pizza just to get the shelter dog photo, other pizzerias have offered to put flyers on their pizza boxes, and so many people are tagging their friends and family.”

Alloy also expressed how this strategy not only increased adoption but also positively impacted the business of her pizza franchise. Her shop mostly delivered 600 to 800 boxes in a week, but after sending out these posters the shop sold 500 boxes by Friday. Alloy was not only focused on helping animals when it came to her philanthropic activities. She was involved with hospice care, non-profit medical organizations, autism centers, children’s hospitals, and animal shelters throughout her locality. Alloy stated, “I try to do whatever I can for other organizations who need help. We have donation boxes all over the store. Anything I can do to help the community, I’m going to do it.” Unfortunately, a few months ago the kind soul breathed her last.