Photo via Oscar's Law on Facebook
Pizza Hut in Australia under fire for promotion that offers free pet with pizzaBy Stacey GonzalezForget the salad- how about a side of hamsterwith your pizza? OnePizza Hutlocation in Mount Waverly,Australia(AUS) was offering just that for an unauthorized promotion. The location- just south east of Melbourne- came under fire Sept. 15 when a photo of the promotional sign went viral.READ MORE!The promotion- intended to run Sept. 1 to Dec. 31 of this year- offered customers a free small animal with the purchase of any 10 large pizzas. Twitter and Facebook users went on the offensive- criticizing the Pizza Hut location for being insensitive."It is so disappointing to see that in 2014, there are still people that think it’s appropriate to treat live animals as prizes or gifts" RSPCA Victoria @RSPCAVIC posted to Twitter.An Australian animal advocacy group Oscar's Law was fighting on the front-lines to end the controversial promotion. The non-profit group took to social media in an attempt to force the Pizza Hut location to provide some answers and put a stop to the meal-deal."We were alerted to this sign in Pizza Hut Mt Waverley Victoria store this morning. We headed down to the pet-shop and after discussions with us they agreed to stop the promotion and agreed it was a bad idea," Oscar's Law posted to their Facebook page.Soon after Pizza Hut AUS released a statement to the public in regards to the Mount Waverly locations promotion. The statement was released to their Facebook page."It has come to our attention that one of our stores have recently been running a promotion which was not approved by Pizza Hut AUS, nor was (it) condoned in any circumstances. We would like to sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by this," read the statement."The poster has since been taken down and all those involved have been made aware of the severity and inappropriateness of the promotion. We would like to thank Oscar's Law and all those who have brought this to our attention this evening," the statement continued.Having adoption fees is a way to ensure that the person adopting the animal is financially capable of taking care of the pet. It also helps solidify the commitment to the pet and reminds the potential pet parent that pets are a life-long financial responsibility."On behalf of Pizza Hut Australia we once again apologize for this thoughtless promotion ever occurring and would like to reassure you all that this matter is being seriously dealt with," the Pizza Hut AUS statement concluded.