President Biden’s Dog Commander Removed from White House for Biting ‘While Next Steps Are Evaluated’

President Joe Biden‘s canine Commander will not be presently residing on the White Home.

First Girl Dr. Jill Biden‘s communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, shared a press release with PEOPLE on Thursday revealing that the 2-year-old purebred German shepherd is residing elsewhere as “subsequent steps are evaluated.”

“The President and First Girl care deeply concerning the security of those that work on the White Home and people who defend them day-after-day,” the assertion learn. “They continue to be grateful for the persistence and help of the U.S. Secret Service and all concerned, as they proceed to work by options.” 

“Commander will not be presently on the White Home campus whereas subsequent steps are evaluated,” the assertion continued.Whereas Commander will not be presently on White Home premises, that doesn’t imply he has been rehomed.The canine’s elimination from the White Home comes after an alleged incident of Commander biting a Secret Service officer late final month, per CNN. This adopted emails that surfaced in July detailing that the U.S. Secret Service had raised issues across the canine over an alleged 10 separate biting incidents, in accordance with a separate report from CNN.

Alexander shared a press release with PEOPLE in July which mentioned that the Biden household, the Secret Service, and the Govt Residence workers had been working collectively on further “coaching” for Commander.

“The White Home complicated is a singular and sometimes anxious setting for household pets, and the First Household is working by methods to make this example higher for everybody,” the assertion learn. “They’ve been partnering with the Secret Service and Govt Residence workers on further leashing protocols and coaching, in addition to establishing designated areas for Commander to run and train.” 

Nonetheless, on Sept. 25, the canine bit a Secret Service officer once more, which turned the eleventh recognized occasion of Commander biting a Secret Service officer.

Within the July report from CNN, emails from members of the Secret Service, which had been obtained by conservative group Judicial Watch by Freedom of Info requests, mentioned that the canine had been concerned in no less than 10 incidents previous to September.

Incidents referred to within the emails included one in November 2022 when a Secret Service officer went to a hospital to be handled for accidents after Commander reportedly bit the officer’s arm and thighs. One other incident allegedly occured only a month prior and concerned the primary girl, who reportedly “could not regain management” of the canine when he charged a Secret Service staffer.

Per CNN, the staffer wrote in an e mail that: “I consider it’s solely a matter of time earlier than an agent/officer is attacked or bit.” The emails additionally said that further biting incidents reportedly occurred when Commander was unleashed and strolling across the White Home grounds.

Anthony Guglielmi, USSS chief of communications, mentioned in a press release to CNN on the time that the Secret Service was “conscious” of the incidents involving the Biden household pets and mentioned they “had been handled equally to comparable office accidents.” He added that the Secret Service doesn’t look after or deal with the primary household’s pets.

Biden, 80, first launched Commander to the world in December 2021, tweeting, “Welcome to the White Home, Commander” alongside a photograph that confirmed the pet with a tennis ball in his mouth as he ran throughout the grass. He joined the household after their earlier German Shepherd, Champ, died in June 2021. 

The Biden household beforehand had a canine named Main, who was adopted from the Delaware Humane Affiliation in 2018. He left the White Home to bear coaching after a number of “biting incidents” on the White Home and it was finally determined that he wouldn’t return.

“After consulting with canine trainers, animal behaviorists, and veterinarians, the First Household has determined to observe the consultants’ collective suggestion that it might be most secure for Main to dwell in a quieter setting with household mates,” Michael LaRosa, a spokesman for the primary girl on the time, informed PEOPLE in December, 2021. “This isn’t in response to any new or particular incident, however reasonably a choice reached after a number of months of deliberation as a household and discussions with consultants.”