An Indiana sheriff is thanking an iguana for taking a bite out of crime.

Warwick County Sheriff Brett Kruse said someone broke into the Groomingdale's Pet Spa in Newburgh on Tuesday night and attempted to steal the owner's pet iguana, Princess Ursula, WFIE reported.

Apparently, the iguana had other ideas. “The Iguana took offense to leaving his home and inflicted what is probably a pretty nasty bite,” Kruse wrote in a Facebook post.

Angie Stanley, the owner of Groomingdale’s, told WFIE that the would-burglar broke into her shop through a window that was accidentally left unlocked, but that nothing was taken. However, she did say said there was blood in Princess Ursula’s cage and bloody human footprints on the floor.

"I am not happy that someone broke in my shop at all, but I do have some concern for that person, because if they don't go to the doctor or the hospital, I don't know if it was bad enough to need stitches, but at the very least they need antibiotics because iguana bites are really bad and it will get really superinfected," Stanley told WFIE.

In his Facebook post, Kruse had some fun, writing that if residents knew “of anyone that has an unexplained bite injury that looks like it could have been inflicted by a pet lizard, please call the Sheriff's Office and let us know. We want to make sure they get proper medical treatment.”

About the Author

Keep Reading

Cox Enterprises CEO Alex Taylor and AJC Publisher Andrew Morse were joined by AJC editors and Atlanta business react during the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in Midtown on Friday, January 24, 2025.
(Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Featured

Austin Walters died from an overdose in 2021 after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, his father said. A new law named after Austin and aimed at preventing deaths from fentanyl has resulted in its first convictions in Georgia, prosecutors said. (Family photo)

Credit: Family photo