Want free pizza for a year? Love animals? Stoner’s Pizza has a deal you

Want free pizza for a year? Love animals? Stoner’s Pizza has a deal you

By Ramishah Maruf, South Florida Sun Sentinel  7/8/2020

It’s a deal that’s hard to pass: Adopt a pet and you’ll receive free pizza for a year

An orange cat named Pumpkin. Puppies wagging their tongues to a camera. A small kitten that can’t be larger than a slice of pizza.

The pets are advertised on a flier slapped on top of the pizza boxes at Stoner’s Pizza Joint (1509 E Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale). They’re all rescue pets at the Humane Society of Broward County who need a permanent home.

Owner John Stetson said if a customer shows him a picture of the animal they adopted, they will receive one free, large pizza a week. That’s 52 pizzas.

“It’s delicious pizza and a cute puppy,” Stetson said. “It’s hard to resist.”

They print 500 fliers fliers a week, the approximate amount of pizzas they sell in that time.

Stetson’s store is on Las Olas, so he’s seen firsthand how fragile the restaurant business is, especially during a pandemic.

“I was heartbroken because I know how hard it is being a small business,” Stetson said. “You live week to week and month to month, and that was before being shut down or having 50% occupancy.”

But as the pandemic permanently shut down restaurants around him, Stetson’s store experienced an increase in business, because pizza is such a popular take-out choice.

“No one really knew how big this pandemic was gonna be and we had other political things that have divided us,” Stetson said. “Some people need to step up and let their actions speak louder than words.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Stoner’s Pizza Joint has been involved in local charity. Stetson committed to donating 10,000 pizza slices after hearing from an employee with young children that many families depend on school breakfast and lunches as part of their daily meals.

The store has donated to local schools, medical staff, food insecure families and more.

When thinking of organizations that needed help, Stetson said he thought of animals. “Instead of paying two to three thousand for a purebred, there are so many beautiful, neglected animals,” Stetson said.

The fliers have only been going for a week. But Stetson said he will eagerly await the first picture of an adopted pet.

“We talked about running the special for three months,” he said. “We’re not capping the amount of free pizzas we give away.”

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©2020 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

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