President Biden’s canine Commander is not residing on the White House after a sequence of biting incidents involving employees members and Secret Service personnel, in accordance with a spokeswoman for Jill Biden, the primary girl.
Elizabeth Alexander, Dr. Biden’s communications director, stated the canine was not residing with the primary household.
“Commander is not presently on the White House campus while next steps are evaluated,” Ms. Alexander stated in a press release.
The transfer got here days after Commander, a 2-year-old German shepherd, bit a Secret Service officer. It was the eleventh episode of “aggressive behavior” by the president’s pets, lots of them involving Commander and the officers and brokers who shield the president.
One of Mr. Biden’s different dogs, Major, was sent to live away from the White House quickly after the president took workplace due to what was described on the time as a “biting incident” with a White House employees member.
In her assertion, Ms. Alexander stated the president and the primary girl “care deeply about the safety of those who work at the White House and those who protect them every day.”
She added, “They remain grateful for the patience and support of the U.S. Secret Service and all involved as they continue to work through solutions.”
Ms. Alexander didn’t say the place Commander was at the moment residing or when he may return to the White House.
Internal emails obtained by a conservative activist group and launched to the general public this summer season documented 10 instances of “aggressive behavior” by the president’s pets.
In a type of episodes, an agent was left “shaken,” in accordance with the emails, when Commander started barking at him from the highest of a White House staircase and he felt the necessity to hoist the chair he was sitting on to make use of as a protect.
Secret Service brokers should not liable for the president’s pets, however they ceaselessly discover themselves close to the dogs as they patrol the White House grounds or perform their duties as protectors of the president and his household.
In July, after one other episode involving Commander, Anthony Guglielmi, the company’s chief of communications, stated that it was typically unavoidable for the brokers to be in shut quarters with the pets.
“While special agents and officers neither care for nor handle the first family’s pets, we continuously work with all applicable entities to minimize adverse impacts in an environment that includes pets,” he stated.
After Commander bit the Secret Service officer late final month, the canine was allowed to stay on the White House. At the time, Ms. Alexander blamed the canine’s conduct on the stress of residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
“As we’ve noted before, the White House can be a stressful environment for family pets, and the first family continues to work on ways to help Commander handle the often unpredictable nature of the White House grounds,” she stated.
