Traditional homeless shelters have long been off limits to pets, leaving animal owners who want to get off the streets with a difficult choice.

President Joe Biden says that Champ, the older of the family's two dogs, has died “peacefully at home.”.

President Biden and his family announced Saturday that their beloved German Shepherd, Champ, has passed away.

(Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Doggie doo in the White House? Michael LaRosa, a spokesperson for Jill Biden, said the 3-year-old German shepherd “nipped someone while on a walk” on Monday. The person, who was not identified, was examined by the White House medical staff and returned to work without injury, LaRosa said. Champ, 12, and Major recently had returned to the White House after Major caused a minor injury to a Secret Service employee on March 8. AdPresident Donald Trump did not have a pet at the White House.

Family dogs Major and Champ have been banished from the White House for a doggie time out in Delaware after Major caused a “minor injury” to a Secret Service agent. Jill Biden brought the dogs to the White House shortly after the inauguration in January. White House furniture is off limits, she said, but Major has showed his disobedient side. Even if my door's closed, they're sitting right outside the door like, ‘Let me in, let me in,’” Jill Biden said. AdMeanwhile, Jill Biden previously promised to broaden the family's pet pool by eventually introducing a cat to the mix, too.

The dogs moved into the White House on Sunday, following Biden's inauguration last week. Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, a self-described germaphobe, does not own any pets and had none with him at the White House. “Pets have played an important role in the White House throughout the decades, not only by providing companionship to the presidents and their families, but also by humanizing and softening their political images,” said Jennifer Pickens, author of a book about pets at the White House. Among the stranger White House pets was Calvin Coolidge and first lady Grace Coolidge’s raccoon Rebecca. But instead she got an embroidered collar with the title “White House Raccoon” and entertained children at the White House Easter Egg Roll.