Hurricane – A K9 Force to Be Reckoned With

By Amy Fernandez

For many Americans, October 22, 2014 was their introduction to the Belgian Malinois. A Secret Service K9 known as Hurricane made headlines that day when he and another K9 thwarted an attempted break into the White House. The intruder breached security by scaling the seven-foot high fencing and sprinting across the North Lawn.

That’s where Hurricane and another Malinois, Jordan, took him down. The security breach was noteworthy, mainly because it was the second jump over that fence in five weeks and the seventh attempt that year. Previously, on September 19 another intruder had successfully climbed the same fence. Thanks to a combination of outdated equipment, communication breakdown and glitchy technology, that guy strolled right into the East Room at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. When all systems failed, it was another K9 agent that finally alerted people to the situation.

But the fact that he got that far inspired investigations. No surprise there. The next time, security was more prepared. The White House immediately went into lockdown. The guy was about halfway across the North Lawn when he was tackled by Jordan. Hurricane, who was patrolling the East Lawn raced in and despite being punched and kicked repeatedly, he held his culprit until humans took over.

Both dogs were injured. Hurricane, then age seven, turned out to be seriously injured and retired from active duty in 2016. But that was not the end of his career. Arguably, Hurricane’s retirement years became his biggest contribution to national security.

He joined the family of his human partner, Marshall Mirarchi in Alexandria, Virginia and became the face of Hurricane’s Heroes, a charity to fund veterinary care for retired K9s. He was awarded the US Secret Service Award of Merit, the Department of Homeland Security Award for Valor, the PDSA Order of Merit, the American Medical Center Top Dog Award and in 2022, he became the first K9 recipient of the Animals in War and Peace Distinguished Service Medal.

The Secret Service K9 Unit was established in 1975, but like everything else it became an ongoing casualty of budget cuts. The September 19 incident triggered some realization of the importance of K9 officers and Hurricane’s quick action the following month raised awareness about this ongoing shortage–which has not gotten any better. When all the technology failed, dogs prevailed.

Retired or otherwise, Hurricane was on the job for life. He died February 12, 2025 at age 15.

Photo credit: US Embassy in London, State Department, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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