Chris Gould has been accosted by staff at his local supermarket at least five times because of his guide dog Simba.

Instead of walking the block from his Malvern East home to that store, the Melbourne man who is legally blind once walked 1.5 kilometres to buy groceries in peace.

Mr Gould says commuters often stand on Simba's feet on the tram or train, and fail to offer the accessibility seats. Credit:Joe Armao

Mr Gould, 30, was born with a degenerative genetic disorder called retinitis pigmentosa, which ultimately led to his diagnosis as legally blind in 2017 – though he says he had likely already met that threshold for years.

Three months later, he had a guide dog, and renamed him Simba from Finbar.