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Delta Bans PAX After Their “Emotional Support Pet” Attacks Blind Passenger’s Guide Dog

SharonKurheg
a dog with its mouth open

Service animals – those who are trained to help people with physical or psychological disabilities – have been around for decades. Perhaps the most well-known type of service animal is guide dogs, which are trained to help people with visual impairments. But other trained service animals can also give cues to those who can’t hear, help reach items for those confined to wheelchairs, detect when their person’s blood sugar is too high or when they’re about to have a seizure, help calm their person down when they’re experiencing a mental health crisis, and the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, somewhere down the line, unscrupulous people decided they could label their pet as an “emotional support animal” (ESA) and bring them on planes with them. The thing is, bringing an untrained or unpredictable dog onto a plane is like playing with fire…and then you read about incidents like the CT mayor who was bit by an ESA.

What’s the difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal?

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, any dog trained to perform specific tasks for a disabled individual that they cannot or have difficulty completing by themselves is a service dog. Examples would be to guide his/her owner who has no or low vision and/or hearing, alert before their owner has a seizure or an episode of dangerously low blood sugar or blood pressure, reach or do things because of their owner’s physical disabilities, calm their owner who is having a PTSD episode, etc. (here’s a list of the 10 most common service dog specializations).

An emotional support animal, on the other hand, is one that provides emotional support and comfort to their owners. No individualized special training is involved and emotional support animals are not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Many emotional support animals know basic obedience because their owners teach them to sit, stay, etc. But because the animals haven’t been formally trained for all circumstances like service dogs are, you’ll encounter animals that are scared in the unfamiliarity of an airport or plane, and they act out. Or they see another dog and become aggressive. Whereas part of a service dog’s individualized training is to learn appropriate behavior in all public situations, including airports and the confines of planes.

Which brings us to Austin resident Dimitris Kouniaris and his guide dog, Anza, who is a golden retriever mix.

Photo Courtesy of Dimintris Kouniaris

Kouniaris was born with congenital glaucoma and Anza has been able to give him the freedom to work and travel. The pair are no strangers to taking “planes, trains and automobiles” but unfortunately, the duo experienced a very frightening moment, in the form of an ESA that attacked Anza, as they were exiting a Delta flight last week. Here’s how Kouniaris described the encounter on his Facebook account:

March 8, 11:04am

I need to share something that happened to Anza and me last night when we arrived in San Diego—something that shook me to my core.

Picture this.

You’ve just landed. You’re exhausted but filled with anticipation because this is a special moment—your guide dog’s puppy raiser is waiting to see him. Your heart is pounding, emotions swirling. You can’t see, but you can feel the way Anza moves, the way his body shifts in the harness, the way he takes each step with purpose and confidence. You trust him completely.

With the help of an airport assistant, you step off the plane. You grip Anza’s harness handle and leash firmly in your left hand and give the “forward” command. He moves smoothly, guiding you up the jet bridge—calm, steady, absolutely in control. His training is second nature; this is what he was born to do.

And then—chaos.
Before you even reach the main concourse, before you can get your bearings, an off-leash dog comes out of nowhere, lunging straight at Anza and me. In an instant, it’s charging—teeth bared, growling, barking—a full-force attack.
Your heart slams into your chest.
You don’t have time to think, only react. You hear the airport assistant gasp. With my left hand still gripping Anza’s harness and leash, I drop the harness handle to free his movement while keeping hold of the leash. Instinct kicks in—I step directly between Anza and the attacking dog, arms out, body tense—forming a shield.
Two seconds. That’s all it takes.
The dog’s owner finally grabs it, yanking it away. But in those two seconds, your world tilts. Your hands are shaking. Your breath is ragged. Your body is still locked in fight-or-flight. And Anza—your lifeline, your partner—stands by your side, waiting for your next command.
The reality of what just happened crashes down on you. You’re furious. You’re terrified. You’re trembling with the weight of what could have been.
Because here’s the truth people don’t seem to understand: if a service dog gets attacked, it can end their career.
$70,000. That’s the cost of the highly specialized training that makes a guide dog what they are. If that training is undone—if they are traumatized, injured, or afraid to work—that investment is lost. But more importantly, the independence, the safety, and the trust that a blind person has in their guide dog is shattered.

Anza is trained for moments like this. He has worked through airports, city streets, and crowded spaces. He does not react. He does not panic. He is solid as a rock. But an untrained, uncontrolled dog? That’s a different story.
Every single time someone allows their dog to lunge at a service dog, to bark, to act aggressively—it’s not just “an unfortunate incident.” It’s a potential disaster. It puts the dog at risk. It puts the handler at risk. And it’s entirely preventable.
Delta took this seriously. They banned the owner from future flights. From what I was told, they falsely claimed their dog was a service dog—but we all know it was just an ESA (Emotional Support Animal).
And here’s the thing—I’m grateful that Anza and I are okay. But that fear? That helplessness? That moment of pure, gut-wrenching panic? That’s something I’ll never forget.
People need to wake up. If you have a dog, keep it under control. If your dog is not trained for public environments, do not bring them into spaces where they can put working teams at risk.
A guide dog is not a pet. A guide dog is freedom. They are our eyes, our safety, our unwavering partners.
And last night, for two horrifying seconds, I almost lost that.

Unfortunately, Kouniaris and Anza

As a former occupational therapist, even I can’t imagine how scary that moment must have been. It sounds as if Anza apparently handled it like a champ, though.

DOT rule

For clarification, following the DOT’s ruling from December 2020, Delta doesn’t allow ESAs on their planes; only trained service animals. Small pets are still allowed in the cabin, but only under strict rules.

According to Kouniaris, the owner of the dog that attacked Anza allegedly claimed their pet was a service dog. Who knows, maybe they even got one of those fake “service dog” vests online, along with a note from a fake doctor. But Delta obviously saw right through that, as a true service dog is specifically trained to NOT act out the way their animal did. It wouldn’t run from its person and it wouldn’t attack another dog. Service dogs just don’t do that; they’re trained not to.

The owner is now on Delta’s “No Fly” list. And rightly so. That passenger lying about their “precious fur baby” could have ended the career of a working dog that’s making someone’s life better. And that would have been a shame.

*** Many thanks to Mr. Kouniaris for allowing us to share his story and photo

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