Would you like a hamster with that? Pizza Hut cops it for weird promo

A Pizza Hut store in Melbourne's south has found itself embroiled in a public relations disaster after it displayed a sign that offered loyal customers a free "small animal" from a local pet store.

The Mount Waverley pizza outlet teamed up with local pet store Pets Story for the left-field promotion, but it faced an almost immediate online backlash from animal rights activists.

Twitter and Facebook users vented their anger on the chain, calling the promotion "irresponsible".

Representatives from the Facebook group Oscar's Law visited Pet Story and convinced the shop to pull out of the promotion, they wrote on their page.

Pizza Hut said they had not condoned or approved the competition, and offered their apologies.

"On behalf of Pizza Hut Australia we once again apologise for this thoughtless promotion ever occurring and would like to reassure you all that this matter is being seriously dealt with," the company said in a statement.

It's not clear why anyone at either store thought the prospect of small animal ownership would boost pizza sales.