SALINA, Utah — Several unsuspecting motorists were in for quite the experience on April Fools’ Day when they were approached by the “feline unit” of Salina City Police Department, and the video of the cat-assisted “drug search” has gone viral with more than 2 million views.
The video posted to the department’s Facebook page shows an officer stopping a vehicle for speeding, reportedly for going 11 miles per hour over the speed limit. After asking about the odor he was smelling, the officer asks for permission to conduct a search with his feline partner, “Froo Froo.”
“So I’m going to deploy my cat around the outside of your vehicle, and if the cat indicates the odor of a controlled substance we’re gonna go from there, OK,” he says on the video.
The officer then retrieves a cat that he claims is trained to respond to Dutch commands and will meow three times when it smells controlled substances.
“My feline is certified to indicate at the odor of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine,” the officer adds.
The officer then conducts the “drug search”, but eventually he can’t contain his laughter and lets the folks in the SUV in on the joke, asking them if they forgive him for indulging in a prank he’s wanted to attempt for a long time.
The driver was let off with a warning for speeding.
According to the Facebook video posted by the department, the officer in the video made the video on his own time and using gas he paid for, so no tax dollars were spent on the prank.
