A Snout For Drugs: Pot-Bellied Pig Becomes A Pierce County Narc

TACOMA - Officers, excuse us, but this cop's a real pig.

The Pierce County sheriff's department is training a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig to sniff out drugs.

His name is Rookie and he is believed to be the first porker in the nation to work for police in this capacity.

The pig was donated to police by Ted Malin of Bucoda, Thurston County, who raises pot-bellied pigs.

Originally, police thought Rookie would be used to snort out drugs for demonstration purposes only.

But his snout has proved so sensitive, he's undergoing intensive training to detect hashish, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines. He'll be in training for another 6 to 9 months.

Rookie has already become proficient in locating and detecting marijuana.

Pigs have been used in Europe in locating truffles. They have been used in search-and-rescue operations in the United States, said sheriff's spokesman Curt Benson.

Rookie has hammed it up at DARE (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) graduations, encouraging youngsters to "squeal" on drug users, Benson said.

Rookie, who is 5 months old and weighs 15 pounds, lives with a Tacoma police K-9 officer and his family in southern Pierce County. Rookie sleeps and plays with the handler's five dogs, two cats, a calf and goat.

The pig is housebroken.