Arnold The State Police Pig

Rus and I have been married for how many years now, and I just learned of an important (and famous!) family relation...He is about my age, born in Gallup, and has survived years of being on the wrong side of a police revolver. But he can take it because he was made of a different metal that the rest of us. Really.
So to back up for a minute...years ago, Rus's dad Roger (then a state police officer), went to a welder to have some shooting targets made. It was then and there that Arnold was born to a life of dings, dents and holes.

Meet Arnold.
Arnold is a State Police Pig.  

And he's a tough old pig at that. He's had a few holes put through him with a muzzle loader but has since been welded up and is as good as new. He even has a sense of humor...
For April fools day one year Rus and Roger loaded up Arnold in the back of Roger's State Police Car and Roger took Arnold to work.  Arnold was placed outside Chief Taylor's office looking in.  When the Chief came in and saw Arnold he just started laughing. A pig born to take hundreds of hits now holds a respected and dignified post in front of the State Police Office. And here is where Arnold got famous: KRQE news in Santa Fe reported this story last Saturday:

Cops embrace pig they once shot at

Updated: Saturday, 22 Sep 2012, 5:19 PM MDT
Published : Saturday, 22 Sep 2012, 5:15 PM MDT

by Alex Tomlin
SANTA FE (KRQE) - People who think they're being clever sometimes oink at police officers or even more bluntly just call them pigs.
So you'd think that a pig is the last thing cops would want as their symbol.
But New Mexico State Police have taken the sting out of that insult by embracing it:
This isn't just any pig, though. This is Arnold, who watches over the state Law Enforcement Academy at Department of Public Safety headquarters in Santa Fe.
That's right -- where cops from all over the state spend time training and getting certified before they hit the streets.
Ok--let's address the, umm, pig in the room.
It's a common practice for pigs and cops to be linked. Usually police are not big fans of that connection.
"Pig was not a complimentary term for police officers, but they turned it around for themselves and now pig stand for Pride, Integrity and Guts," DPS spokesman Tony Lynn said. "And they love it. They absolutely love it."
This little guy stands for a lot and has put up with a lot over the years. He was originally made for target practice at the request of a state cop in Gallup.
He still bears the scars from there.
"He found his way to Santa Fe, and they put him outside of the office of one of the New Mexico State Police chiefs, Chief Taylor," Lynn said.
A few years later, when the state were sprucing up police headquarters, they let employees decide what art should be placed outside to represent the building and DPS.
"The pig, which wasn't even one of the art works up for vote, won," Lynn said. "They mounted him permanently outside the Law Enforcement Academy, and that's where he sits."
Everyone has embraced the little guy even putting a wig on him and saying he was undercover or dressing him up to look like a lieutenant or offering to get him a donut as they walk by..
No one knows exactly how long Arnold the pig has been hanging around headquarters, but officials say they plan to keep him there for good.