Hot Dog Vendor Jailed for Operating Without a License

Owner of Outlaw Dogs says licensing procedure was too burdensome
By Sara Burrows
Carolina Journal
Nov. 18, 2010

DURHAM — After months of unemployment, 57-year-old Steve Pruner decided to create his own job selling hot dogs in downtown Durham. Problem is, state laws and regulations called “onerous” by a Durham County health official have sidelined Pruner’s hot dog cart.

Pruner, a former executive recruiter for a company conducting clinical research trials, had to find another line of work when the economy went bad. Self-employed, with a mentally handicapped 26-year-old daughter and a 48-year-old brother on kidney dialysis depending on him for support, running a hot dog cart seemed to be the ticket. It wouldn’t require much capital, he could be his own boss, and he could even build a cart himself, he thought.

But Pruner never anticipated how much red tape would stand between him and the “American dream.” [...]

“I’m not asking for welfare or food stamps,” Pruner said. “I’m just asking to be able to work on the same corner you can legally beg on.”

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