In Five Hours, Cane Rosso Raised $20,000 for Burned Down Humane Society

By Kathy Tran

Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 10:41 a.m.

In Five Hours, Cane Rosso Raised $20,000 for Burned Down Humane Society

Last week, when Cane Rosso owner Jay Jerrier learned about a fire at that killed 74 dogs at the Humane Society of Southeast Texas, he knew immediately that Cane Rosso would donate 100 percent of its sales on Monday night to the Beaumont shelter. What he didn't know was that dozens of diners would flock to the restaurant, some waiting for three and a half hours just to order a pizza to help the Humane Society and its surviving animals. The restaurant got so busy, employees had to turn down to-go orders because the pizza box supply had been decimated. "In just five hours we raised $17,469 for the shelter — including our pals from Caviar that spent $1,000 on a 5-year-old bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch," he says. "We are going to round up and make it an even $20K and mail them a check."

Almost as surprising as the turnout was the unexpected fate of one single, solitary bottle of Hidden Valley ranch dressing, a bottle that sold for $1,000, with all proceeds going to the Humane Society.

Jerrier is a man who loves dogs, as evidenced by Cane Rosso Rescues, the dog rescue group he founded that's in the process of building a foster facility. But he is also a man who hates ranch dressing — so much so that inside Cane Rosso, a locked wooden box contains the pizzeria's only bottle of it, which Jerrier slapped a $1,000 price tag on to dissuade anyone who yearned to dip their Cane Rosso slice in ranch. Last night, the bottle was purchased by a group of people from the delivery service Caviar, all of whom were on hand for the same reason as everyone else: to eat pizza and drink beer for the Humane Society's new shelter and for the surviving animals to receive medical care and temporary homes.

Word spread quickly through Beaumont social media about the Dallas fundraiser, and commenters were blown away by its success.

The Humane Society launched a GoFundMe with an $800,000 goal, and as of Tuesday morning, even after about $30,000 in donations, the organization has a long way to go. Cane Rosso's $20,000 contribution will no doubt help. All photos by Kathy Tran.

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