Arizona town welcomes 'drug-sniffing' bearded dragon to their police force
If you live in Arizona, give a nice warm welcome to your newest police officer: a lizard.
That's right, the Avondale Police Department has officially sworn in Iroh the bearded dragon, and have given him a badge and everything. Photos of the momentous occasion were shared on the department's Facebook page.
Iroh first came into police work last year, when the police department announced on April Fool's Day that the bearded dragon would be joining their ranks with a specialty in dug detection.
"Research has shown that reptiles possess a strong sense of smell making their ability to detect certain illicit drugs possibly more accurate than K9s," the Facebook announcement read.
Even though having a bearded dragon on the force was obviously a prank, Iroh became somewhat of a fixture within Avondale police. Pictures were posted on Facebook of the lizard sitting in on paperwork and even working the radar gun.
Officer Iroh has clearly earned his badge. We have no doubts he will wear it with honor and distinction.
Christine is a Web Culture Intern at Mashable. She has previously written for FanSided and Saturday Down South. She has a B.A. from the University of California, San Diego and an M.S. from Hunter College. Before she started writing, she worked in education as a teacher and school leader for four years. Her special talents include being able to quote The Office on command, playing non-stop Overwatch for hours, and composing only the wittiest of Tweets (her own opinion).
