The White House confirmed Joe Biden's cantankerous canine won't face the death penalty after biting and injuring an “unfamiliar person”.
During the daily briefing, a White House reporter asked press secretary Jen Psaki to reassure the American public that Major Biden, 3, would not be euthanised as a result of the attack.
“Well certainly Major Biden is a member of the family so I can assure you that,” Ms Psaki said.
Ms Psaki confirmed that the president's youngest dog caused minor injuries to an “unfamiliar person", as they were still getting acclimated to their new surroundings and new people. She stopped short, however, of saying whether it was a member of the secret service as previously reported.
“Major was surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury to the individual, which was handled by the White House medical unit with no further treatment needed,” Psaki said.
While the two dogs, Major and Champ, were moved to the president's hometown of Delaware, they would return to the White House "soon".
“It had been previously planned already for the dogs to be cared for by family friends in Delaware during Dr Biden’s travels to military bases this week,” Ms Psaki said.
While the stay of execution means the two dogs will eventually return to the White House, it's unclear if they'll return to find their walk-in privileges to the Oval Office usurped be a new feline friend.
Images from outside the White House showed a dog's bed unceremoniously discarded out the side of the building.
Asked about Mr Biden's pledge to purchase a cat for the White House, Ms Psaki said she didn't have a readout on the status.
“I don’t have any update on the cat,” she said. "[but] we know the cat will break the internet.”
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