They say that every dog has his day, but two of the U.S. Secret Service’s K-9s have gotten quite a bit of attention this week, after their role in apprehending an intruder on White House property earlier this month.
According to The Washington Post, the two canines assisted Secret Service agents in subduing 23-year-old Dominic Adesanya of Maryland after he jumped the White House fence on October 22. The K-9s, Hurricane and Jordan, were punched by Adesanya in the process, but have since been treated for minor bruising and cleared for duty by a veterinarian.
Adesanya was taken to a hospital with injuries from a bite wound but is currently in custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. About 50% of Americans will sustain a bite wound in their lifetime, but for Hurricane and Jordan, biting is sometimes part of the job.
After media requests, the Secret Service (@SecretService) tweeted two pictures of the dogs on Monday. The first features Jordan, with a caption that reads: “black/tan Belgian Malinois, brown eyes, age 5, enjoys walks around White House, ready to work”. The second features Hurricane, with a caption that reads: “black Belgian Malinois, brown eyes, age 6, enjoys playing with his Kong toy, ready to work.”
In less than 20 hours, the pictures were retweeted and marked as favorite over 800 times each.
Adesanya was charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds and one count of injuring animals used by law enforcement Thursday. Both charges are misdemeanors, for which Adesanya could get up to a year in prison.
This case is much different than last month’s Secret Service gaffe, which allowed 42-year-old Omar J. Gonzalez to not only enter White House property but to run through the executive mansion.
According to The Washington Post, on September 19th, Gonzalez simply hopped the fence and entered the White House through an unlocked front door. He then made it through the Central Hall and into the East Room of the house before being tackled by a guard.
In this case, there were a number of factors that led to Gonzalez’s ability to enter the White House. K-9 units werenot released, the guard was not at the front door where Gonzalez entered, and the alarm that would have alerted the guard was muted. This all revealed with alarming clarity just how lacking security was at the White House, and ultimately played a role in the resignation of Julia Pierson, who was then the director of the Secret Service.
The incident also caused an official review by external security and operations experts at the direction of the Department of Homeland Security. Details of the recommended changes to White House security should be released in December.
