The title of this article was especially difficult for me to write because of the amount of time my family has devoted to animal rescue groups and the large number of dogs we have shared a home with over the decades. So many dogs need and deserve homes, and the opportunity to live in the lap of luxury that is the President’s palatial estate should be a dream come true for any canine. But the latest news coming out of the White House about Joe Biden’s dog commander has confirmed a very unpleasant reality. The Bidens’ first White House dog, Major, was sent to “live on a farm” after biting several people, including Secret Service agents assigned to protect the commander in chief. Major was replaced by another German Shepherd named Commander. This dog has now bitten about a dozen people that we know of. That brought our City Council colleague Katie Pavilich write an opinion piece declaring that “it’s time to delete” the commander.
Earlier this year, the government watchdog Judicial Watch revealed that the commander, now a two-year-old German shepherd, attacked White House staff at least ten times.
“Judicial Watch announced today that it has received 194 pages of US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) records that reveal 10 attacks by President Joe Biden’s German Shepherd Commander on US Secret Service (USSS) officers between October 2022 and January 2023,” Judicial Watch published in July. “In several cases, officers required medical attention, including in a hospital.”
It happened again this week.
The last bite of a Secret Service agent was severe enough that the officer required medical treatment at the White House Medical Complex. Karine Jean-Pierre laughed off the incident as just a dog “reacting to a stressful environment”. But the problem is clearly much more than that. Eleven or twelve bites in a relatively short period of time is a sign that something is very wrong in the animal’s environment. And this is far from normal. Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama had dogs and we never saw any reports of anyone being bitten.
I’m going to disagree with Katie Pavlich here, though I always respect her informed opinions on many subjects. It is true that dangerous dogs are frequently euthanized, but I have long argued that society rushes to euthanize too quickly in many cases. I will also repeat the common belief in animal care circles that, “There are no bad dogs. Just bad owners.’
If we have to find someone to blame for the commander’s behavior, the list of suspects is short. This is Joe and Jill Biden’s fault for not raising and caring for their dog properly. If their White House schedule is so busy that they can’t spend time with their pet and acclimate it to life in the Capitol, they shouldn’t have dogs. (For the record, Barack Obama’s dog, Bo, was frequently seen in the Oval Office while father was working.)
Unfortunately, the animal care laws in this country are largely toothless (please excuse the word choice) and the needs and rights of dogs are often ignored. There is probably no legal mechanism available that could compel the Bidens to turn the commander over to a foster home or shelter. Congress would never consider trying to make this possible through any kind of legislative measure. And too much of the media either ignores these stories or laughs them off. They should be able to shame the Bidens into doing the right thing for their pet, but that’s not going to happen either.
But euthanizing the commander would solve nothing and give an animal a literal death sentence for things that are completely out of its control. It’s not hard to raise a dog that won’t bite people at random. My wife and I have raised ten dogs over the years we’ve been together. There has never been a period of more than a few months when there wasn’t at least one dog in our house. (There’s a dog sleeping on the couch next to me as I write this.) And in all that time, we’ve never had a single case of those dogs biting anyone, or really. anything apart from treats, toys and the occasional squirrel or (unfortunately) skunk.
Animals that live in loving relationships with their humans and develop a trust in people because they are treated well almost never become aggressive. They are partners in a lifelong relationship, not combatants. (Exceptions can be found for military or police K-9s, but that’s a different situation.) If the Bidens can’t or won’t invest their time in this relationship, they should be publicly shamed to hand over your dog to someone capable of taking care of it. he Of course, it’s pretty amazing to think that they don’t have time to properly care for the commander when you consider that Biden spends half of his time on vacation.
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