President Joe Biden’s canine Commander bit US Secret Service brokers on a minimum of 24 events, new paperwork present.
US Secret Service information present the extent to which the German Shephard prompted chaos for the presidential bodyguards.
One senior agent famous the bites meant the Secret Service modified techniques, advising brokers to “give numerous room”.
The warning got here months earlier than Commander was faraway from the White House.
The paperwork have been revealed by Freedom of Information requests and posted on-line. They are closely redacted to guard the id of Secret Service brokers and secrecy of their safety techniques.
They present a minimum of 24 biting incidents took place between October 2022 and July 2023, together with members of the Secret Service being bitten on the wrist, forearm, elbow, waist, chest, thigh and shoulder.
The paperwork don’t essentially document all biting incidents associated to Commander, as they solely cowl the Secret Service and never others that work within the White House or workers at Camp David in Maryland.
A earlier incident in June led to a “deep chunk” on the forearm of an agent, who wanted stitches. Blood on the ground in an space of the White House prompted excursions of the East Wing of the building to be suspended for 20 minutes, in keeping with one doc.
In July, one other agent was bitten within the hand and required six stitches. The chunk prompted a “extreme deep open wound” and the agent “began to lose a major quantity of blood”, one e-mail confirmed.
This agent was given a “small care bundle” by colleagues as a gift together with painkillers, antibiotic ointment, pepper spray, a muzzle and canine biscuits “for security functions”.
An unnamed senior agent in a single e-mail suggested that brokers defending Mr Biden and his household “have to be inventive to make sure our personal private security”.
“The recent canine bites have challenged us to regulate our operational techniques when Commander is current — please give numerous room (staying a terrain function away if doable),” the agent wrote.
