Hurricane at the White House
Hurricane, a Belgian Malinois that worked as a U.S. Secret Service dog, will be honored next month for his heroism on White House grounds five years ago --- by the British, notes Grumpy Editor.
The dog is credited with saving former President Barack Obama from an intruder, points out Nicole Darrah of Fox News.
Hurricane will be awarded the Order of Merit from PDSA, a British veterinary charity that equates the honor with the "Order of the British Empire," during a special ceremony in London.
It will mark the first-ever foreign animal to receive the award.
Darrah reports that Hurricane “stopped an intruder, who in October 2014 scaled a White House fence. The intruder swung Hurricane around, and punched and kicked him --- but the dog dragged the man to the ground, allowing Secret Service agents to intercept him.”
Obama, who was home at the time, was not harmed.
Darrah says Marshall Mirarchi, the dog’s handler who worked with Hurricane for four years, describes the dog as a "legend" within the Secret Service after the attack, adding, “he loved working and his talent for the job impressed me every single day. That night, he stepped up and delivered under circumstances that no amount of training could prepare him for. I have never witnessed such violence toward a dog before but it didn’t stop him from doing his job."
Mirarchi recounts Hurricane didn't have obvious signs of trauma after the attack, but did have "some cuts and significant bruising," injuries that ultimately contributed to Hurricane's retirement in September 2016 when his former handler adopted him.
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