WARNING: This story contains a graphic photo below.

The mother of a 5-year-old girl mauled in the face by a pit bull at Portland International Airport has filed a $1.1 million lawsuit against the Port of Portland for allegedly letting a dangerous “emotional support animal” into the airport without a carrier.

The lawsuit lists two other defendants: the dog’s owner, Michelle Brannan, and Alaska Airlines. The suit claims Brannan should have known that her dog had “vicious propensities.” The suit says the airline is at fault for allegedly allowing Brannan to bring a dangerous dog into the gate waiting area, where the attack happened, when the dog wasn’t a trained service animal and wasn’t properly confined.

Mirna Gonzalez is suing on behalf of her daughter, Gabriella, who was 5 at the time of the attack on Dec. 18, 2017, and has since turned 7.

According to their Portland attorney, Chad Stavley, Gabriella and her family were waiting at gate C7 to board a flight to Texas for the Christmas holiday. The girl’s mother and older sister went to get coffee nearby as Gabriella and her 13-year-old brother waited at the gate, Stavley said.

With Brannan’s consent, Gabriella began petting the dog, Stavley said. It then bit her -- puncturing her eyelid, severing her tear duct, lacerating her face and tearing her lip, Stavley said. The girl underwent surgery and has visible scars today, he said.

Gabriella Gonzalez suffered a severed tear duct, a lacerated lip and other injuries during a dog attack at Portland International Airport on Dec. 17, 2018, according to her family's lawyer.

Brannan couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday. Alaska Airlines declined comment, citing the pending litigation.

Kama Simonds, a spokeswoman for the Port of Portland, declined comment on the specifics of the case. But she explained the port’s policy allowing animals. She said port officials can ask someone traveling with a dog if the dog is a trained service animal. If the traveler says yes, officials can ask what service the dog provides.

“The traveler need only answer those questions, and we’re required to accept the answer,” Simonds said in an email. She added that officials don’t ask for documentation of the animal’s training.

Simonds said the port distinguishes between trained service animals and emotional support animals -- requiring that the latter be put in carriers while passing through the airport. If the animal is too large for a carrier, the animal must be on a leash within 3 feet of its owner, she said.

Port officials apparently thought Brannan’s dog could have fit into some sort of carrier because port police cited her for failing to crate her dog.

Stavley said he doesn’t know if officials at the airport questioned Brannan about her dog before she got to the gate, or what Brannan might have said when asked if her dog was a trained service animal or an emotional support animal.

Stavley said Brannan was carrying what looked like a form letter from her therapist, saying her animal was an emotional support animal.

“It didn’t say what kind of animal,” Stavley said. “It was just a generic ‘animal.’”

Brannan, who lived in Portland at the time, was allowed to catch a later flight without her dog, Stavley said.

According to Alaska Airlines’ policy on its website, trained service animals as well as emotional support animals fly free of charge.

“We welcome trained service animals and emotional support animals,” the website states.

The airline doesn’t require that emotional service animals travel in a carrier. Rather, the website states that a leash is also acceptable.

The suit seeks $100,000 for past and future medical costs, including the costs of surgery, and $1 million for the girl’s pain and suffering. The girl and her family live in Pasco, Wash., and were traveling through Portland.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Read the lawsuit here.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

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