'Pizza for Pets' helps pets in long term shelters find forever homes

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa women is on a crusade to get dogs out of shelters.

Lauri Partanio is the owner of Professional Pets Florida. 

"We do in-home pet care, so we do overnight sleepovers, pop in visits and dog walking," she explained. 

Caring for animals has been her passion for years.

"My background is in animal welfare," said Partanio. "So I worked for Hillsborough County Animal Control for a couple of years."

Lauri Partanto started "Pizza for Pets" get pets adopted from shelters.

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Now she's come up with a new way to help pets by starting a non-profit called "Pizza for Pets." Her goal is to get pets adopted from the long term shelter at the Pet Resource Center in Tampa. 

"They are good candidates for adoption. They're just maybe overlooked. Or, don't get their time in the spotlight," Partanio explained.

To help get them in the spotlight Partanio started a marketing campaign seven months ago. She picks a dog to feature on a flyer and gets Tampa Bay businesses to staple the flyer to their to-go box or bag.

"It has the name of the pet, how long they've been at the Pet Resource Center," said Partanio. "And it also has the phone number of the foster pets line so that the new adopter can bring the flyer to the Pet Resource Center and get a free adoption."

Danielle Stevens is the Owner of Vine Vegan Restaurant in Brandon. Her place has been involved for about two months.

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Danielle Stevens is the Owner of Vine Vegan Restaurant in Brandon has a wall dedicated to celebrating pet adoptions.

"I thought, hey, I have a restaurant. I have a lot of to go bags that are going out. I can't be pizza for pets, but I can be plants for pets," she shared.

She has helped nine dogs find their forever home and has the wall to prove it. 

"Any time we can help an animal, we want to take advantage of that. And to help long term shelter dogs find their forever homes was something that we really wanted to be a part of," Stevens said.

Partanio is proud of the successful movement. 

"It's awesome. I had hoped to get one or two adopted, and we've gotten some dogs that have been on the euthanasia list for an hour or two right before they were redeemed. So it's been really, really, really rewarding and fulfilling," she said. 

Partanio is so thankful for the businesses that have helped 34 dogs find a forever home.