Biden’s Dog, Above the Law, Bites Yet Another Member of the Secret Service

The Commander-in-Chief shows no sign of bringing Commander to heel.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
The president's dog, Commander, on the south lawn of the White House on March 13, 2022. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

A Secret Service officer is nursing bite wounds thanks to President Biden’s German Shepherd, Commander. It’s the 11th known attack but the president — who embraces the mantra that “nobody’s above the law” — shows no signs of bringing the dangerous dog to heel despite legal statute.

Commander bit “a Secret Service Uniformed Division police officer” who “was treated by medical personnel” and is recovering, a statement by the Secret Service’s chief of communications, Anthony Guglielmi, said. A private citizen’s dog wouldn’t remain at large, so why is Commander still roaming free?

Washington D.C.’s “one-bite rule” states that after a single attack, an owner must act to prevent future danger. “In the eyes of the law,” according to the District’s Department of Health, “you are responsible for any damage done by your dog.”

The law’s description of a “dangerous dog” fits Commander to a T. It’s one that, unprovoked, “causes a serious injury,” “chases or menaces … in an aggressive manner, causing an injury,” or has “demonstrated a propensity to attack without provocation.” Even a single such incident could lead animal control to take or euthanize the offender.

“There are Secret Service agents being injured on the job,” the president of Judicial Watch, Tom Fitton, told me after reviewing emails obtained through a FOIA request, “and no one seems to care.” Commander has already put one officer in the hospital.

German Shepherds are one of the most dangerous breeds on earth, the American Animal Hospital Association found in 2019. They’re bred, in part, for guard duty, so accounting for Commander makes it harder for the Secret Service to do their jobs meeting other threats.

Blackburn Romney, an Indiana law firm specializing in personal injuries, describes shepherds as “large, strong dogs with a lot of energy and they can be very aggressive if not properly trained and socialized.”

As with Mr. Biden’s first German Shepherd, Major — who was sent away after multiple attacks — the president has either done a bad job or just picked a dog that’s a bad fit for the busy White House.

German Shepherds are “possessive and territorial,” the law firm wrote, and “may attack if it feels someone is invading its space or if it receives unwanted guests,” such as the 1.25 million who visit the White House each year in addition to thousands of staffers.

Commander is now fully grown so his bite is worse than his bark with pressure up to 300 PSI, enough to crush human bone. The first lady’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Alexander, says the first family, Secret Service, and staff are seeking “new training,” but nurture will deliver diminishing returns. Nature is set.

The association, trainers, and common sense says that dogs should be trained when they’re puppies to ensure they’re “less dangerous.” For Commander, the critical window when Mr. Biden and behaviorists could have shaped his personality is about closed.

Expect the new “leashing protocols” Ms. Alexander promises to put in place to have little effect and the problem to get only worse with age. “German Shepherds, who are older, may experience more aggression,” the association wrote, especially if they’re feeling unwell.

“I believe it’s only a matter of time before an agent/officer is attacked or bit,” a staff member who Commander attacked wrote after an incident that happened when Ms. Biden proved unable to restrain Commander with a leash.

“During my career in veterinary medicine,” I wrote for the Sun in July, “I treated many aggressive dogs, using tools like the muzzle, rabies pole, sedatives, and reflexes honed at a sometimes painful and bloody price. Irresponsible owners, however, can’t be wrangled…”

Mr. Biden is loyal to Commander, but his Secret Service detail is even more loyal to him, ready to lay down their lives for him and his family. To ask agents to face additional risk because he can’t control his dog was too much to ask for Major, and it’s too much to ask for Commander as well.

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This article was updated from the bulldog to attribute to the law firm Blackburn Romney some assessments of the dangerousness of German Shepherds.


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