Who Let the Dog Out?

March 5, 2010

Customers loved Cody, the black Labrador mascot of a Clearwater, Florida, gas station. But the Florida Department of Agriculture told owner Karim Mansour to get rid of the dog or it would declare all of his food products unfit for consumption. The store didn't sell deli items or hot food, only chips and candy and bottled and canned drinks, so it's a little unclear how the dog could have contaminated them. But the state had even more trouble in store for Mansour. A big construction project along U.S. 19 made it difficult for customers to get to the store, which closed just a few weeks after the state made him get rid of Cody.