Biden Major’s German shepherd causes ‘minor injuries’ in the White House incident

Biden Major’s German shepherd causes ‘minor injuries’ in the White House incident

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WASHINGTON – The Bidens’ 3-year-old German shepherd was involved in an incident on Monday in which he was “surprised by an unknown person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual,” said the press secretary. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday.

The White House medical unit handled the incident, she said, adding that “no further treatment was necessary”. She declined to say whether a Secret Service agent was involved in the incident.

Major and the oldest German shepherd of the first family, Champ, have been sent to the Bidens’ home in Wilmington, Delaware, and are being watched by friends of the family, which Psaki said was planned because First Lady Jill Biden is traveling. this week.

“It had already been planned that the dogs would be cared for by family friends in Delaware during Dr. Biden’s trips to military bases this week,” she said at a briefing at the White House. “She has a three-day trip this week, and the dogs will be returning to the White House soon.”

Psaki noted that dogs “are still getting used to and getting used to their new environment and new people”.

The press secretary said in an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program that dogs are often in Delaware when Jill Biden is traveling. The first lady is in Washington state as part of a trip to the west coast to visit military bases and meet with military families, and is not expected to return until Wednesday.

The Bidens adopted a Delaware Humane Association Major in 2018 after he and five other puppies were exposed to a toxic substance, and he is the first shelter dog to live in the White House. The Bidens won Champ as a puppy in 2008, before moving to the vice president’s official residence at the Naval Observatory.

Both dogs were seen leashed with the Bidens outside the White House, and President Joe Biden recently noted that dogs are privileged to enter the Oval Office.

Jill Biden said she plans to add a cat to the list of first pets, but Psaki said at the briefing on Tuesday that she didn’t have an update on the feline front. “Today is a good day for the cat. I don’t have any updates on the cat. We know the cat is going to break the internet, but I don’t have any updates on its status, ”she said.

Major is not the only German shepherd by that name to have faced scathing accusations in the White House.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Major dog “was known for harassing White House maids to the point that they had to use their brooms and mops to keep him away,” according to the Presidential Pets Museum.

That major, a former police dog, almost caused an international incident when British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald visited the White House during FDR’s first year in office.

“Major’s attack on ministerial pants was so vigorous that MacDonald’s pants were almost torn off and a spare pair had to be found so that he could decently leave the presidential residence,” wrote author Stanley Coren in his book, “The Pawprints of Human History. “

MacDonald was not the previous major’s only major victim. Former first daughter Margaret Truman wrote in her book “Pets of the White House” that the major bit the leg of Senator Hattie Caraway, the first woman elected to the Senate, that same year.

After biting an unidentified third person, Major was for some time “chained to the dog’s house”.

Major, wrote Coren, was subsequently “banned to the FDR mansion in Hyde Park”.

Image: Rebecca ShabadRebecca Shabad

Rebecca Shabad is a Congressional reporter for NBC News, based in Washington.

Image: Shannon PettypieceShannon Pettypiece

Shannon Pettypiece is a senior reporter for the White House at NBCNews.com.

Image: Dareh GregorianDareh Gregorian

Dareh Gregorian is a policy reporter for NBC News.

Peter Alexander, Kelly O’Donnell and Geoff Bennett contributed.

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