Hurricane and Jordon, two Belgian Malinois Secret Service dogs, can take a punch. Now, its truly unfortunate that Dominic Adesanya, 23, of Bel Air, Md. was punching the dogs that thwarted his fence jump, but some dog lover will take care of him in prison soon. There is little doubt that a number of animal rights groups will chime in with criticism of their use in the service of the nation but, I don’t much care. These dogs are heroes and they should be allowed to serve just like woman and gays have fought to do in recent decades. If they didn’t want the job they never would have made it through 20 rigorous weeks of training.
White House Fence Jumper: Take a punch, give a bite
And, I’m happy to report that they are both fine and they got a bite or two in on this idiot last night, a bite that required treatment in the hospital. Good dogs.
“Both K-9s were cleared for duty by the veterinarian,” Secret Service spokesperson Edwin Donovan wrote in an e-mail.
The Secret Service began using this unique breed of dog in 1975. Belgian Malinois are smart, strong, agile and obedient. They weigh about 70 pounds and have no trouble outrunning a human. Plus it’s nice to see a breed other than a German Shepard get some credit for its service.
“Once you release the dogs to their objective, there’s not much that can stop them,” said former Secret Service director Ralph Basham, who headed the Secret Service from 2003 to 2006. That objective, he added, is “take them down, slam into them. There are certain parts of the body they are trained to attack. They are trained to stop the intruder and give the handler time to respond.”
But where were these two or others when Omar J. Gonzalez walked into the Executive Mansion last month? Certainly these highly trained officers were not given a chance by their handlers to take care of him. That incident, and others, caused the resignation of its Secret Service director, Julia Pierson.
Praise for the humans as well
While the dogs got their first, their handlers and others did a bang-up job subduing Adesanya on Wednesday night. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the incident “underscored the professionalism of the men and women of the Secret Service. In a moment’s notice, they spring into action to protect the White House, the first family and those of us who work here every day. That’s a sentiment shared by the first family, who are very appreciative of their vigilance.”
Just as the NFL has men who don’t deserve to be lumped in with a few miscreants, the Secret Service is not just a bunch of buffoons as was demonstrated last night.
And the doggies done good too.
