It is the latest in a series of episodes in which one of the family’s pets has bitten people since the president took office.
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Commander, a 2-year-old German shepherd, has bitten several members of the Secret Service, including biting one officer on the arm and thigh badly enough that the officer was sent to the hospital.
President Biden’s dog Commander bit a member of the Secret Service at the White House on Monday evening, the latest in a series of episodes in which one of the Biden family’s pets has bitten people since the president took office in January 2021.
“Yesterday around 8 p.m., a Secret Service Uniformed Division police officer came in contact with a first family pet and was bitten,” Steven Kopek, a spokesman for the agency, said on Tuesday. “The officer was treated by medical personnel on complex.”
The officer is doing well, according to Mr. Kopek.
Commander, a 2-year-old German shepherd, has bitten several members of the Secret Service since arriving at the White House in 2021, including biting one officer on the arm and thigh badly enough that the officer was sent to the hospital.
One of Mr. Biden’s other dogs, Major, was sent to live away from the White House soon after the president took office because of what was described at the time as a “biting incident” with a White House staff member.
Neither the Secret Service nor the White House provided any additional details about the incident on Monday. But aides to Jill Biden, the first lady, have said that the episodes are the result of the stress the dogs feel from being at the White House.
“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,” said Elizabeth Alexander, the communications director for Dr. Biden.
Ms. Alexander said that the “president and first lady are incredibly grateful to the Secret Service and executive residence staff for all they do to keep them, their family and the country safe.”
Internal emails obtained by a conservative watchdog group and released to the public this summer documented 10 instances of “aggressive behavior” by the president’s pets.
In one of those episodes, an agent was left “shaken,” according to the emails, when he felt the need to hoist up the chair he was sitting on to use as a shield when Commander began barking at him from the top of a White House staircase.
Secret Service agents are not responsible for the president’s pets, but they frequently find themselves near the dogs as they patrol the White House grounds or perform their role as protectors of the president and his family.
In July, after the last episode involving Commander, Anthony Guglielmi, the agency’s chief of communications, said that it was sometimes unavoidable for the agents to be in close 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 said.
Officials have said the White House has designated areas for Commander to run and exercise.
Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Biden and his administration. He has reported on politics for more than 30 years. More about Michael D. Shear
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Source: nytimes.com
