Joe Biden’s dog Commander has bitten another US Secret Service employee, the agency said.
A uniformed division officer was bitten by the president’s German shepherd at about 8pm on Monday at the White House, and was treated on-site by medical personnel, said the Secret Service’s chief of communications, Anthony Guglielmi.
Elizabeth Alexander, the communications director for the first lady, Jill Biden, said: “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 said the Bidens were “incredibly grateful to the Secret Service and executive residence staff for all they do to keep them, their family, and the country safe”.
Commander has bitten or otherwise attacked Secret Service personnel at least 10 times between October 2022 and January, including one incident that required a hospital visit by the injured law enforcement officer, according to records from the Department of Homeland Security.
Commander is the second of the president’s dogs to behave aggressively, including biting Secret Service personnel and White House staff. The first dog, a German shepherd named Major, was sent to live with friends in Delaware after those incidents.
The Secret Service provides security protection for the president and his family, and scores of its officers are posted around the executive mansion and its sprawling grounds.
Email exchanges between Secret Service agents and their managers have revealed their disdain for Commander, whom the Bidens introduced in December 2021 in a video showing the president tossing a ball to him.
“That’s freaking crazy, that stupid dog,” the superior of the November 2022 attack victim said.
“My leg and arm still hurts. He bit me twice and ran at me twice,” the victim replied, to which the first officer said: “What a joke. If it wasn’t [the Bidens’] dog he would already have been put down. Freaking clown needs a muzzle.”
Biden received Commander in December 2021 as a gift from his brother James. The family also have a cat called Willow.
