Secret Service agents bitten by President Biden's dog 24 times!

NEWS AND COMMENT: it is astonishing to read in The Times today that President Biden's dog, Commander, bit Secret Service agents 24 times in all before the dog was removed from the White House. The number of bites may be higher if all staff are included.

Commander. Photo believed to be in the public domain.

The Times reports that, "For members of the Secret Service guarding President Biden, the most crucial weapon to protect themselves was not a gun but a bag of dog biscuits!"

The newspaper reports that one agent required six stitches to his hand after Biden's two year old German shepherd, Commander, bit him.

After that encounter, the agent was given a "care package" for "safety purposes". The care package included pepper spray, a muzzle and dog treats!

The world now knows that Commander was banished from the White House last October to an undisclosed location after reports of 11 similar encounters.

But now newly released documents reveal that he bit agents at least 24 times.

The documented reports cover the period October 2022-July 2023 and they only cover members of the Secret Service rather than all of President Biden's staff. This indicates that the true number of aggressively/defensive encounters could be far higher.

There are apparently 400 pages of documents. They show that many of the agents required treatment after incidents at various locations including at the White House, Camp David in Maryland and at the President's family home in Delaware.

One unnamed agent wrote in June 2023 that, "the recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present. Please give lots of room."

Colleagues were warned that they must be creative "to ensure our own personal safety."

The Bidens were apparently heartbroken according to a source by the frequency of the incidents. The source said that:

"They've apologised to those who have been bitten, taken flowers to some. They feel awful. Commander was overprotective. Even though they tried and tried to work on it, they had to let him go [and] live with other members of their family."

It didn't work out. And it is put down to the fact that the German Shepherd is a particularly protective dog of his pack i.e. the Biden family and he was living in a situation where there were lots of strangers coming and going which instinctively brought forth his protective nature. 

It also clear to me that these attacks were not hugely violent but nips which broke the skin as indicated above. Commander isn't naturally aggressive but simply instinctively defending his pack.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

World's oldest pooch stripped of his title by Guinness World Records

Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, died last October at the reported age of 31 years and 165 days. The breed normally lives to around 12-14 years of age.

Bobi had been awarded the Guinness World Record's oldest dog ever title but now, after a dispute about his real age, Bobi has been stripped posthumously of his title.

Image of Bobi in the public domain. Overall image: MikeB.

Guinness World Records (GWR) said that the microchip which purportedly proved Bobi's age was not, in fact, sufficient proof for the dog to keep the award which his owner received in February last year.

Bobby lived on a farm in the village of Conqueiros in Portugal with his owner and four cats.

GWR said that it had not determined which dog was the new record holder. They also launched an investigation into Bobi last month after doubts about the reliability of the evidence which had been used to prove Bobi's record-breaking age.

GWR said:

"We are left with no evidence which can definitively prove Bobi's date of birth. Without any conclusive evidence available to us right now, we simply can't retain Bobi as the recordholder."

There's been no comment by Bobi's (former) owner after the stripping of his title. The owner, an unnamed man, had previously stated that suspicions about the true age of his pet were unfounded.

The owner had previously put his dog's longevity down to his laid-back lifestyle in the countryside of Portugal and the fact that he was only fed human food.

Wired magazine conducted an investigation and found that the dog's microchip had been registered only in 2022, a year before the dog had finally had his day i.e. had died.

His owner claimed the pooch was born in 1992. However, a database official had explained it had "no registration or data that can confirm or deny this statement."

Danny Chambers of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the UK told The Guardian newspaper that "not a single one" of his veterinarian colleagues believed that Bobi had actually lived to the age of 31.

The previous holder of the world's oldest dog was Australia's Bluey. Bluey died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Armed robber stole two cats worth 10,000 Malaysian ringgit and slashed the owner

NEWS AND COMMENT: I think that this is the first story that I have read concerning an armed robbery in which two cats were stolen. And it was a very serious armed robbery because the robber slashed the cats' owner to the extent that he required 36 stitches for wounds to his right arm and right leg.

The cats' owner is Ryan Cheah. He had met the robber before as his home when he purchased a cat from him. A few days later the man contacted Cheah asking to purchase two more cats and to meet him at a parking lot at a shopping mall on February 18.

Cheah didn't want to do that and they met at a bus stop instead had 7:30 PM with his girlfriend.

When the buyer arrived his car was smashed up as if he had just been an accident. Cheah went to speak to the buyer when he brandished a knife demanding that he hand over money.

The robber also ordered a colleague to get the cats from Mr Cheah's girlfriend who was unaware what was going on and therefore she handed over the cats.

While the cats were being handed over Cheah tried to escape the vehicle and at that point the robber brandished a machete and tried to slash him. He defended himself but incurred the serious injuries mentioned.

The robbery has traumatised him and the police have confirmed that after an investigation they have made arrests and are to make a statement in due course.

Cheah was concerned that the robber and his colleagues might come round to his house because they know where he lives and harm him. But it appears that the robber is now in custody.

We don't know what sort of cats they were. They must be purebred cats but we don't know the breed. 10,000 Malaysian ringgit is around US$2000.

Source: The Star Online.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Berlin police seized 48 illegally bred Levkoy cats considered the product of 'torture breeding' in Germany

Germany has a brilliant nationwide law which states that purebred cats that are bred with inherited genetic diseases causing general pain and suffering are the product of "torture breeding" and they are illegal in the country. 

Levkoy Cay. Image from unknown author.

The word "torture" is a very evocative and strong word and I think it is a brilliant word to describe these breeds which are fully accepted in many other countries including America.

In this instance I'm referring to the Levkoy which is a Ukrainian breed; a hairless cat with floppy ears. Germany has outlawed hairless cats because they don't have a coat 😎😢 and therefore they can't live normal lives. 

You can't change the anatomy of a cat breed that fundamentally in Germany and make the cat more vulnerable without being labelled a torture breeder.

And apparently this man living in Berlin was told to stop breeding the Levkoy cat but he continued nonetheless and in a raid by the police and animal welfare authorities his entire stock of cats were seized and he was arrested. He now faces a substantial fine.

The officials believe that he was probably the last breeder in Germany of the Ukrainian Levkoy cat breed.

The seized cats have been distributed to foster carers across Germany where they have received a check up and veterinary care where needed.

You might like to read about this cat by clicking on the following link. It's an article written by visitor to my website. I have updated that page to include what happened in Germany as described in this article.

Levkoy Cat Breed.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Take yourself and your cat to Scotland if and when World War 3 starts!

It appears to me that we are building up to it? What? World War 3. And there might be some nuclear bombs going off as well although that would seem to be unlikely despite the incessant threats from Putin and his cronies. For instance, Medvedev recently said that if Russia lost any of the ground gained in the east of Ukraine over the past two years of war, Russia would react by using nuclear weapons. The ultimate threat but a typical Kremlin threat.

That's probably just an idle threat but he has threatened the use of nuclear bombs several times before. And recently, the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has warned the West that it was stoking the flames of the beginning of World War 3. He claims that we are on the "edge of the abyss". He blames NATO as does Putin. No reference to the Ukraine war that was started by Putin. The man  is paranoid about the West hating Russia. If only he could be more reasonable and normal.

As you know Lukashenko is a key ally of Vladimir Putin. He believes that there are legitimate concerns that a new global conflict could erupt and he blames the West for this. He says that the West is pushing the world towards this catastrophe.

He claims that it is complete stupidity to think that Russia is preparing to attack the Baltic countries.

Belarus has just received two anti-aircraft missile divisions and two divisions of missile systems from Russia as they are a close ally to Russia. The news media says that Lukashenko is preparing for World War 3.

Highlands of Scotland. Image: MikeB (Canva)

Remote places

Right, that's the dire introduction so what to do? Well, the super-rich have already built their super houses and super bunkers in remote, far-off places like New Zealand. They'll just fly off to a remote spot in New Zealand and live a more or less normal life while Europe burns.

For the rest of us, living in Europe, it seems to me that the best answer is to pack your bags, put your darling cat into a nice cat carrier (a particularly big one to put in the back of your car) and drive up to Scotland. 

You can start off with the mainland and then if you want to you can branch off to one of the many islands on the west coast of Scotland. They are all remote and have a very low human population.

The density of the population of Scotland is 235,540 people (Scottish Highlands). There are other countries with very low population densities such as San Marino, Vatican City, Andorra, Malta, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Estonia, and Kosovo for instance. Iceland also has a low population density but most of it is pretty well uninhabitable.

The countries that I've specified are all very centrally placed in Europe and therefore that would make them unsuitable for a place to go to if there is a conflagration in Europe. You want to go somewhere remote, out of the way, where you are also able to minimise nuclear fallout and radiation poisoning.

That's why I'm selecting Scotland, particular the highlands or the Western Islands. You've got to take with you some sort of home either in the form of a tent or ideally a caravan. Perhaps a mobile home would be ideal.

Lastly, and this is the important point, your cat will love it because you will be walking out of your mobile home to a vast, open, green and wet landscape. It'll be beautiful and your cat can roam freely and safely because there are no roads. 

There is no one there to poison your cat. Or steal your cat. Until the rest of Europe catches up with you and arrive on the borders of Scotland to do exactly what you're doing.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.