Odd News Roundup: Pumpkin Race, Thai ad agency employees bring pets to work

Houston officials nix brothel featuring sex dolls

The Houston City Council on Wednesday prevented what was billed as the first brothel in the United States equipped with sex dolls from opening in the Texas city, altering a local ordinance to block the business and any others like it. The Houston Chronicle reported that Toronto-based KinkySdollS had planned to open a Houston location, where customers could both buy "adult love dolls" and rent them for use in private rooms.

Putting on the dog: Thai ad agency employees bring pets to work

Nimo bounds out of a car in a rush to get to work at a Bangkok advertising agency, but Nimo is no ordinary employee. He's a dog.

Paddle your own pumpkin: German racers swap boats for vegetables

With a look of apprehension, a blond woman clad in a wetsuit wobbles her way onto a lake in western Germany in a huge, hollowed-out vegetable. Paddle held aloft, she's a contestant in the Krewelshofer lake's annual pumpkin race, held for the third time on Wednesday over a 35-meter (115-ft) course.

(With inputs from Reuters)