Hurricane, Dog Who Protected Obama White House From Intruder, Dies at 15

Hurricane, a fierce but affectionate Secret Service dog who subdued an intruder on the North Lawn of the White House in 2014, protecting President Barack Obama and lifting the spirits of an embattled Secret Service, died on Feb. 12 in Alexandria, Va. He was 15.

The death was confirmed by Hurricane’s longtime handler, Marshall Mirarchi.

A jet-black Belgian Malinois who loved Kong toys, Hurricane shot to a measure of canine fame a decade ago through his spirited defense of the grounds of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

It was around dusk on Oct. 22, 2014, when a 23-year-old intruder scaled the steel fencing at the White House complex and came within 100 yards of the president and the first lady, Michelle Obama, who were watching a film in the White House movie theater.

The man was about halfway across the North Lawn when he was met by another Secret Service dog, Jordan, a Belgian Malinois with a tan coat and a brown snout. The man managed to fight off Jordan but then faced Hurricane, who had raced his way from the east side of the lawn.

Hurricane pushed the intruder back about 60 feet before wrestling him to the ground. Secret Service agents soon arrived to take the man into custody.

The intruder, Dominic Adesanya, of Bel Air, Md., later pleaded guilty to a trespassing charge.

“He beat Hurricane really bad,” Mr. Mirarchi, who served in the Secret Service’s Special Operations Division from 2006 to 2017, recalled Tuesday. “But Hurricane did not give up.”

Hurricane was left with swollen legs and damaged hips. Jordan took a foot to the snout. (Jordan died in 2024.)

After the fight, Hurricane, a 69-pounder who could race at 25 miles per hour, would never jump the same, Mr. Mirarchi said.

But he and Jordan had helped the Secret Service avoid a second severe embarrassment in two months.

In September 2014, a different intruder had scaled the White House fence and managed to make it into the East Room of the White House, a breach that led the Secret Service director to resign.

Dogs were not used during the September break-in. After that episode, the agency increased the number of watch dogs at the White House.

In 2015, Hurricane was awarded the Secretary’s Award for Valor from the Department of Homeland Security, and in 2022, he received the Distinguished Service Medal, according to the Secret Service.

He retired in 2016.

In his later years, he served as a mascot of Mr. Mirarchi’s charity, Hurricane’s Heroes, which helps provide veterinary care for retired law enforcement and military dogs.

At charity events, Hurricane, who had four titanium teeth from his bite-work training, would play with children. Unlike many trained apprehension dogs, Hurricane was able to flip a switch when he was not working, Mr. Mirarchi said.

“What made Hurricane so special was that he could be so ferocious and brave, yet be so loving and kind at the same time,” Mr. Mirarchi said. “He could be biting and doing apprehension all day long, and when he comes home, he was this loving, caring, kind soul.”

On the day he died, Hurricane took one final trip to the White House and took a photograph with his old Secret Service teammates. Then the group went back to Hurricane’s home in the Washington suburbs.

“His whole team came to say goodbye,” Mr. Mirarchi said. “We put him down together.”