Pizzeria puts pictures of lost pets on pizza boxes

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A pizzeria in Manatee County is delivering more than good pie.

Brancato's Brick Oven Pizza in Bradenton, Florida is trying to reunite lost dogs with their owners.

Every pizza take-out box now has a color picture of a lost pup pasted on top. 

"It is a great idea because any tool that we can use to get the word out about lost pets, we want to do it," said Patty Giarrusso, president of Lost Pet Services, Inc., who got the idea from a pizza shop in New Jersey.

The owners of Brancato's got on board about two weeks ago.

"Everybody loves animals," said Alex Christianson, co-owner of the family-owned pizzeria.

Since 2016, Lost Pet Services, Inc. says it has reunited about 10,000 lost pets with their owners in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Social media has helped spread the word, but the non-profit hopes fliers on pizza boxes help their cause.

"Pets and pizza," Christianson said, adding that he is a dog owner and understands how important it is to reunite those who were separated.