NEW DELHI: New documents reveal that President Joe Biden’s dog Commander was a nightmare for the Secret Service, biting them at least 24 times.
The German Shepherd’s bites were so frequent and severe that the presidential bodyguards had to change their security tactics, according to Secret Service records, a BBC report said.
One senior agent warned agents to give lots of room when Commander was around.
This advice came months before Commander was kicked out of the White House.
The documents were obtained through Freedom of Information requests and published online. They are heavily censored to hide the identity of Secret Service agents and their secret security methods.
They show that between October 2022 and July 2023, Commander bit members of the Secret Service on various body parts, such as the wrist, forearm, elbow, waist, chest, thigh and shoulder.
The documents may not capture all of Commander’s biting incidents, as they only relate to the Secret Service and not other White House or Camp David staff.
The Biden family’s dog left the White House in October last year, after a Secret Service agent needed medical attention for a serious bite.
In June, another agent suffered a deep bite on the forearm and had to get stitches. The blood on the floor in the White House caused a 20-minute halt of the tours of the East Wing, one document said.
As per the BBC report, In July, a third agent was bitten in the hand and needed six stitches. The bite resulted in a severe deep open wound and the agent started to lose a significant amount of blood, an email showed.
This agent received a small care package from co-workers as a gift, which included painkillers, antibiotic ointment, pepper spray, a muzzle and dog biscuits for safety purposes.
A senior agent who was not named in an email told agents who were guarding Mr Biden and his family that they must be creative to ensure our own personal safety.
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), the agent wrote.
The office of First Lady Jill Biden told CNN in a statement that they tried various ways to solve the problem but gave up in the fall and sent him to live with relatives.
Despite additional dog training, leashing, working with veterinarians, and consulting with animal behaviourists, the White House environment simply proved too much for Commander, the statement said.
The family’s other dog, Major, also hurt a Secret Service agent in 2021 and was moved to Delaware.
