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Joe Biden’s canine Commander attacked and bit US Secret Service brokers in a minimum of 24 incidents on the White House and his residence, in response to newly launched paperwork.
US Secret Service data revealed the extent to which the German Shephard has “challenged” brokers and compelled them to regulate their operational techniques round him.
The 24 instances of attacks by Commander included one by which an agent required six stitches and one other the place blood spilled onto the ground of an space of the White House open to public excursions.
Commander was banished from the White House final 12 months following a collection of biting incidents.
“The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present — please give lots of room (staying a terrain feature away if possible),” a senior agent accountable for the Presidential Protection Division wrote in a June 2023 electronic mail.
The unnamed person, whose code identify was blacked out within the doc, warned brokers “must be creative to ensure our own personal safety”.
President Joe Biden’s canine Commander seems out from the balcony throughout a pardoning ceremony for the nationwide Thanksgiving turkeys on the White House in Washington in 2022
(Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
The doc was closely redacted to guard the identities of Service Secret brokers and their safety techniques. It was launched in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by John Greenewald, a California-based researcher who specialises in unearthing authorities secrets and techniques.
The biting incidents took place between October 2022 and July 2023. Commander’s victims suffered bites on their wrist, forearm, elbow, waist, chest, thigh and shoulder.
These incidents didn’t embody the 11 reported attack incidents within the White House final July and the doc doesn’t essentially document all biting episodes.
The cache of emails not solely recorded quite a few incidents in typically vivid element but additionally depicted the trauma and apprehension felt by Secret Service brokers and officers. They exchanged methods on how one can finest keep away from harm.
One individual narrowly escaped harm due to their ammunition pouch. The paperwork additionally contained {a photograph} of a torn shirt.
“I was in shock that the incident occurred,” a particular agent wrote after he was attacked whereas holding open the door for the president on 2 October 2022. Commander attacked by grabbing the agent’s left arm and stood on his hind legs.
“He is literally my height standing,” the agent wrote. “After this I was concerned about him getting out of the residence or being out without a leash for others’ safety and mine.”
Another agent got here away from an encounter with a extreme harm. On 14 June 2023, the canine raced in the direction of an agent and prompted a “deep bite” on his left arm that required stitches.
“East Wing Tours were stopped for approximately 20 minutes due to blood from the incident being on the floors in the area of the Booksellers,” one of many halls within the White House, one doc reported.
A month after the incident, one other agent was bitten on the president’s home in Delaware and prompted a “severe deep open wound,” and the agent “started to lose a significant amount of blood,” a message mentioned. The agent needed to get six stitches in his arm.
“The president and first lady care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day,” mentioned Elizabeth Alexander, the communications director for Jill Biden.
“Despite additional dog training, leashing, working with veterinarians and consulting with animal behaviorists, the White House environment simply proved too much for Commander. Since the fall, he has lived with other family members.”
The German Shepherd was a gift to Mr Biden from his brother James Biden in December 2021.
Commander is the second of Bidens’ dogs on the White House to show aggressive behaviour. Their first canine – one other German Shepherd named Major – was also sent to Delaware after exhibiting aggressive behaviour.
