Matawan Pizzeria Puts Missing Pet Pics On Their Pizza Boxes

MATAWAN, NJ — We've all heard about missing kids' photos on milk cartons. But what about missing pet photos on pizza boxes?

That's exactly the idea that popped into John Sanfratello's head last week. Sanfratello is the owner of Angelo's Pizza in Matawan, at the corner of Broad Street and Rt. 79. Angelo's is a Matawan institution, doing business in town for 45 years now. But in the past week, they've become better known for missing cats and dogs than their pies.

"It all started when a young woman posted on Facebook, saying her cat was missing, and I wrote back saying would you like us to post some fliers at Angelo's," Sanfratello said. "She said her cat ran away during that big storm we had last Thursday. She was so upset and I really felt for her, because our family cat ran away a few years ago and I remember what that was like ... you're awake in the middle of the night just thinking about your pet."

"I looked up and saw the three to four hundred empty pizza cartons we always have stacked against our wall," he continued. "That's when it hit me. We used to do this with kids on milk cartons, why couldn't we put a photo of a missing pet on a pizza box?"

The idea has spread like wildfire. That young woman's cat actually ended up being found before Sanfratello could print the fliers. But he posted about the idea on the pizzeria's Facebook page and since then, at least five pet owners have now asked if he could feature their missing pets on his pizza boxes.

"If you think about it, when you hand folks a pizza, you've got their undivided attention," he told Patch. "They are looking down at that box from the moment you hand it to them to the moment they sit down to eat it. Nobody wants to drop that pie! They just cannot miss a photo of a missing pet."

Right now Angelo's is trying to help locate a missing German Shepherd puppy that's being trained as a seeing eye dog. That dog, Ondrea, ran away last week in Sussex County, as the Morristown Patch reported. But the organization that was training her, The Seeing Eye, came into Angelo's this week and asked if her photo could be put on his pizza boxes, Sanfratello said.

"I wasn't going to say no," he said. "Besides, every little bit helps. She really could be anywhere."

Angelo's takes no money to tape the fliers to his pizza boxes, and he said he would decline payment if it was ever offered.

"This is just about helping the community and helping people," the small-business owner said. "I know how important people's pets are to them."

No missing pets have been found, but he's only been doing it for about a week now.

"It only takes one to make this a success!" he said.

His next goal is to have other businesses across the state pick up this initiative.

Past Patch reporting on Angelo's pizza in Matawan: Family's Pizza Tradition Passed Down Through Generations