© WIN MCNAMEE
Joe Biden’s dog Champ at a press briefing at the Vice President’s residence in May 2012
The American presidential couple’s German Shepherd, Champ, is dead, Joe and Jill Biden announced on Saturday, paying tribute to the dog who “made everything better” when he was by their side.
Aged 13, the animal had seen “its strength decrease” over the past few months, said the head of state and his wife, before dying.
Champ and the couple’s other dog, Major, had marked the return of the dogs to the White House, four years after the departure of Bo and Sunny, companions of the Obama family.
Donald Trump had thus interrupted an old tradition by spending his entire mandate in Washington without a pet.
“He wanted to be wherever we were and he instantly made everything better when he was next to us,” the presidential couple said in a statement.
The Biden’s other dog, Major, the first presidential animal to pass through a shelter, has been much more talked about than Champ since Joe Biden’s tenure began.
He bit two White House workers within weeks of each other, to the point that the animal was sent for training courses.
tu / cjc
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