Recently, one of my County Extension Agents sent me several questions that a landowners posed to him. We visited about the answers by phone, but I thought that many of you may have wondered about the same things.
To me from the County Extension Agent:
I have a landowner that just called and we visited about a feral hog situation that he was facing. He stated that his neighbor trapped a female feral hog and has been feeding and raising it in a pen at his place. He said since then, the hog has had a litter of piglets, while he was holding her in the pen. The landowner that called in said he is worried about that hog escaping the pen and adding to the feral hog population. He had concerns about potential diseases and impacts to the area around him and his place. He said that this neighbor appears to be raising it for the pork, but was not for sure.
He wants to know the legalities of holding and feeding feral hogs. Is there a time period for confining feral hogs? Can he even keep one like this and raise it up? Are his lambs and goats that are just across the fence getting exposed to diseases?
He said the hogs and pen have "stunk up" his place adding to his concerns. He has called a game warden in XXXX County and was directed Texas AgriLife Extension Service. He contacted the sheriff's department, but they were unsure about the situation. How do I advise him? How can we help in this situation?
Thanks for the help!
My responses to the County Extension Agent:
These are all great questions and some are clear to answer, while others have shades of gray. Your landowner has grounds for concern!
Let's start with who has regulatory authority over feral hogs. In the end, Texas Animal Health Commission has regulatory responsibility regarding movement and release of feral hogs. Feral hogs are considered free-ranging swine. They are not native to North America and like other exotic hoof-stock (axis, fallow deer, you name it we have it), feral hogs fall under the jurisdiction of TAHC. This agency recognizes that Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Wardens are well connected to landowners and what is happening at local levels and the two agencies benefit from collaboration.
The mission of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is "To manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations". Because feral hogs are not native species to North America, the authority of Law Enforcement Divisions is limited.
Feral hogs are not a games species like native white-tailed deer or javelina. Consequently, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has limited regulatory actions dealing with feral hogs. For instance, anyone involved in sports hunting feral hogs, must have a valid hunting license as outlined in the annual Texas Fishing and Hunting Regulations issued by the TPWD. Property owners who lease their lands for hunting must have a Hunting Lease License. Not having one is a violation. Keep in mind that capture of deer by trapping, or snaring is prohibited. There are no approved toxicants for feral hog control, as toxicants can kill non-target species some having both state and federal protection.
Your landowner needs to contact Texas Animal Health Commission, who also has concerns about the threat of disease transmission by feral hogs. Among the top concerns are diseases like swine brucellosis and pseudorabies. TAHC highly discourages "backyard" feeding of feral hogs.
So, can a person keep "backyard" feral hogs to feed out and consume? Currently, "backyard" holding and feeding of feral hogs it is not prohibited, but the risk of escape and disease transmission is real. This person needs to recognize restrictions on feeding feral hogs. Feeding raw or cooked meat, meat scraps, or and co-mingled mixture of meat products, or by-products with meat mixes is prohibited. Likewise feeding any vegetables, fruits, dairy products, or baked goods is also prohibited.
In this case, your landowner has to worry about the neighbor's feral sow and now the added piglets. If the guy with the feral pigs transports and releases the group on another property, he is in violation of TAHC regulations that went into effect in October 2008.
To trap, move and release feral hog sows and gilts is prohibited. They can be held for a period up to 7 days before taking them to a TAHC approved holding facility and then to slaughter. They can be held this same period and taken directly to slaughter. These reproductive machines should not be captured, moved and released anywhere in the state.
Provisions do allow for domestication of feral hogs, but this practice is not encouraged. Here feral hogs must be quarantined a minimum of 150 days and test negative 4 times for pseudorabies and swine brucellosis. It sounds like the guy with the feral hogs is about to incur the high costs of this option.
Boars and barrows, may be kept up to 7 days and then transported to approved holding facility, who can move to a authorized hunting preserve, or directly to slaughter. Likewise an individual can take them directly to slaughter, or to an authorized hunting preserve.
Holding facilities and hunting preserves must have "swine-proof" fences to prevent escape. These animals must be marked with identification and an escape is a violation under TAHC authority.
I can easily see your landowner's concerns over his neighbor's "backyard" feral hogs. I hope the information here will be helpful to him. Texas Animal Health Commission would much rather provide communication and education to reduce this risk, but they have regulatory authority if a violation can be documented.
Jim