As far as we're concerned, the score is Cody, a chocolate Labrador retriever, and his master, BP gas station owner Karim Mansour, 2; Florida Agriculture Department inspectors, 1. If Mansour doesn't give up, he and Cody should win.

Cody is a 5-year-old dog that loves to greet customers when the bell rings to announce that someone has approached the station's pay window. Customers were so cheered by the canine greeting that Mansour dressed Cody in an official BP employee shirt complete with a name tag, which was clearly visible since Cody stood on his hind legs, front paws on the counter to greet customers.

The dog became a local celebrity and a big draw for Mansour's station. Business boomed, until, that is, a state agriculture department health inspector voiced a concern that Cody's presence may violate a law that says only official service dogs can be present in an establishment that sells food. The inspector's concerns were temporarily assuaged when Mansour put Cody in a back room.

Then, in a version of the same phenomenon that is haunting Tiger Woods, a film of Cody greeting customers aired on Fox News and quickly went viral on the internet. It may just have been a coincidence, but the health inspector, accompanied by his supervisor, soon arrived to visit the scene of what is, if not a crime, at least a civil violation. Cody, uniform or not, had to go, the inspectors said. No nonservice animals are allowed in areas where food is sold. But Cody was performing a service not unlike those of a Wal-Mart greeter. Shouldn't working dogs who bring in business be considered service dogs, too?

Mansour's station sells only prepackaged food, bags of chips, candy bars and the like. But the possibility of passing along fleas with the Fritos existed and the health of the citizenry must be protected, the state of Florida declared. Lost on the officials is that behind Cody's welcoming doggy face, was a display of, you guessed it, cigarettes. Doggie dandruff on your bag of Doritos, no way. Carcinogens in the lungs? Okay.

It's a safe bet that a majority of American households have a pet, a dog, a cat or some other critter that spends time in the home's kitchen and dining room, some of it on the counter. Somehow, the residents of those homes have survived. But ignore Cody, Florida inspectors said, and who knows what pet could turn up in an establishment that serves food.

It's in the nature of regulations to be inflexible, which is why, despite their value, most people hate them. And it's a lot harder to judiciously administer and grant exceptions to regulations than to enforce them slavishly.

In Cody's case, the best remedy might be for BP, whose brand got millions of dollars worth of free publicity from Cody's five-month stint as an unpaid employee, to pay for a simple divider between the food and Cody, and a second customer pay window, one with Cody, and another for customers who want gas and a pack of smokes.