Joe Biden’s dog has bitten United States Secret Service (USSS) personnel at least 24 times, according to newly-released internal documents.
Sky News reported the US president’s German shepherd, Commander, was removed from the White House last October after he bit a female officer, resulting in her needing medical treatment.
That attack was the 11th recorded publicly at the time, but there were even more attacks than initially reported with at least 24 between October 2022 and July 2023, according to new documents obtained by CNN.
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The incidents included Secret Service members getting bitten on the wrist, elbow, forearm, chest, waist, shoulder and thigh.
One agent needed stitches after being bitten on their forearm at the White House while another needed six stitches on their hand after suffering a “severe deep open wound”, documents show.
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President Joe Biden with Commander in 2022. Pic: Adam Schultz/AP
Agents had to “be creative to ensure our own personal safety” due to the dog’s behaviour, an unnamed assistant special agent in charge of the USSS’s Presidential Protective Division wrote in a June 2023 email.
Writing to fellow staff, the agent said: “The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present – please give lots of room.”
An unnamed secret service technician wrote they were “worried about the family pet’s behaviour escalating and that… something worse was going to happen to others” after an incident in October 2022, CNN reported.
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The incidents weren’t confined to the White House; documents show they also took place at Biden family homes in Wilmington and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, at Camp David, and in Nantucket, Massachusetts, where the first family spends the Thanksgiving holiday.
Commander looks out from a balcony at the White House in Washington. Pic: AP
Elizabeth Alexander, spokesperson for first lady Jill Biden, previously stressed that the Bidens care deeply about the safety of staff, and those who protect them every day.
“They remain grateful for the patience and support of the US Secret Service and all involved, as they continue to work through solutions,” she added.
She also said the White House could be a “stressful environment for pets”.
Commander was gifted to the US president in December 2021, when he was a puppy, by his brother James.
Mr Biden’s previous pet, another German shepherd named Major, was sent to live with friends in Delaware after some biting incidents of his own.