> News Release
> Texas Animal Health Commission
> Box l2966 * Austin, Texas 78711 * (800) 550-8242 * FAX (512) 719-0719
> Bob Hillman, DVM * Executive Director
> For info, contact Carla Everett, information officer, at 1-800-550-8242,
> ext. 710, or
ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us>
> For immediate release---
>
> Proposed Wild Hog Rules Aim to Aid Producers, Trappers & Hunters
>
> Described as being as prolific as cockroaches, destructive as rats, and as
> surly as badgers, wild (feral) hogs are the bane of ranchers and farmers,
> but they're a boon for hunters. Nearly three million of these dirt
> slingin' critters roam free in Texas, rooting up pastures, wallowing in
> creek beds, and gorging themselves on crops and gardens. Trappers and
> hunters often are called in to help reduce hog numbers when feral swine
> run amuck.
>
> For nearly a year, a team of commercial swine and show pig producers,
> slaughter plant operators, veterinarians, hunters, hog trappers and
> wildlife biologists have wrestled with rule ideas that would prevent
> captured wild hogs from creating more chaos, while still giving hunters an
> opportunity to bag a boar trophy worth bragging rites. In mid-May, draft
> regulations were presented to commissioners for the Texas Animal Health
> Commission (TAHC), the state's livestock and poultry health regulatory
> agency. Public comment on the proposed rules, to be published in the
> Texas Register June 6, will be accepted by the TAHC through July 6. TAHC
> commissioners will consider the rules for adoption at their next meeting
> on July 29 in Austin.
>
> "The 80th legislature, in the TAHC's Sunset Bill, provided for the TAHC to
> regulate feral swine, which are regarded as free-ranging livestock. The
> TAHC regulations are to be limited to disease control purposes, including
> holding facilities, sale, exhibition, hunting or movement," said Dr. Dee
> Ellis, Texas' assistant state veterinarian and TAHC advisor to the feral
> swine working group. "If these proposed rules are adopted, they will
> supersede TAHC's current feral swine regulations that aren't
> comprehensive. We know we can't get rid of feral swine, but we can find
> ways to deal with the animals so that it benefits all sectors of the
> industry."
>
> Dr. Ellis said the proposed regulations give trappers greater latitude for
> holding and moving trapped swine. Approved holding facilities and
> authorized hunting preserves would be sanctioned and inspected by the
> TAHC, and operators or owners would be required to keep records on the
> animals for at least five years. Applications for operating the holding
> facilities or hunting preserves will be available from the TAHC, if the
> regulations are adopted.
>
> Because there is some limited interest in changing captured feral swine to
> "domestic" swine by testing the animals, the proposed regulations would
> allow for wild hogs to be reclassified as "domesticated" pigs after a
> series of at least three negative blood tests for swine Brucellosis and
> pseudorabies during a minimum 150-day quarantine period. (This practice
> is not recommended, however.) Additionally, sows and other sexually intact
> female swine would be required to undergo a fourth negative test for the
> diseases, at least 30 days after their initial farrowing in quarantine.
>
> The disposition of feral swine that are not "domesticated" through the
> quarantine and testing process is limited to slaughter only, except for
> boars and barrows, which may be moved to TAHC-authorized hunting
> preserves.
>
> The proposed rules also would allow for the wild pigs to be held after
> trapping in an escape-proof pen or enclosure on a trailer for up to seven
> days before moving the animals directly to a federally or state-inspected
> slaughter plant, to a TAHC-authorized hunting preserve, or to an approved
> holding facility, awaiting final disposition.
>
> The proposed rules would allow only boars and barrows to be moved to
> TAHC-authorized hunting facilities, which would have to be equipped with
> swine-proof fencing at least five feet high. Boars and barrows also would
> have to be individually identified prior to being placed into the
> preserve.
>
> Hunting preserve operators would need a "Hunting Lease License" and hog
> hunters would need a hunting license, both from the Texas Parks and
> Wildlife Department, but there is no season on these animals so often
> regarded as a pest and a threat to livestock health.
>
> "It is extremely important that proposed holding facilities and hunting
> preserves be 'escape proof.' Identification on the boars and barrows in
> hunting preserves would help us identify pigs that 'get loose,' " said Dr.
> Ellis. Required record-keeping would include the number of swine placed
> in or removed from the facilities, the animals' weight, size, color, sex
> and any identification applied to the animal, and the locations from which
> they were trapped and to which they were moved.
>
> "Strict requirements are necessary to prevent moving an animal that has a
> potential livestock disease from one site to another," said Dr. Ellis.
> "From tests on feral swine over a four-year period, we know that around 20
> percent of wild hogs in Texas carry pseudorabies, a regulatory flu-like
> swine disease not related to rabies. About 10 percent of the feral pigs
> have swine Brucellosis, the swine form of "Bangs," or cattle Brucellosis."
>
> Since January 2006, the swine form of Brucellosis has been detected in 26
> cattle in 19 herds. Although the swine infection in cattle does not
> affect Texas' hard-won 'free' status for cattle Brucellosis, it does cause
> positive test results when cattle are tested prior to sale. The bacteria
> must be "grown out" in the laboratory to differentiate between swine
> Brucellosis and cattle Brucellosis infection. In the meantime, cattle in
> the consignment or herd must be held up, and additional tests may be
> needed to ensure there is no cattle Brucellosis infection in the herd.
>
> Feral swine also can have a health impact on noncommercial swine, which
> may be housed in facilities that are more likely to have feral swine
> contact than commercial swine facilities. Of the 41 noncommercial swine
> herds quarantined for swine Brucellosis infection since January 2003, 29
> either had definite or possible contact with wild hogs.
>
> " 'Contact with feral swine' can be as simple as a wild sow or boar either
> being allowed in, breaking into swine pens, or making contact through a
> fence," noted Dr. Ellis. "Related contacts" can include an activity such
> as purchasing piglets from a producer who allows feral swine into his or
> her pens. In this case, a buyer could be purchasing piglets that have
> been exposed to disease carried by feral swine.
>
> Dr. Ellis advised domestic swine owners to keep feral swine out of their
> pens. When purchasing replacement swine by private treaty, ask if the pigs
> have been exposed to feral swine. If possible, keep the animals isolated
> until tested for swine Brucellosis and pseudorabies. At livestock markets
> selling sexually intact swine six months of age or older, these tests are
> required, and blood samples are collected from the animals by TAHC
> personnel.
>
> "Commercial swine herds are operated with great attention to biosecurity,
> and in Texas, these herds currently are swine Brucellosis and
> pseudorabies-free," said Dr. Ellis. But each time we detect infection in
> a noncommercial herd, it puts a hardship on producers, because we must
> trace animal movement, test herds in a widespread area, and handle
> infected herds appropriately. Swine brucellosis also poses a significant
> public health threat to those handling or inadvertently producing infected
> animals. By adopting regulations that make it easier for trappers to
> remove feral swine from an area, and place boars and barrows only in a
> hunting facility, we encourage legal regulated movements of the animals
> and have less chance of disease transmission from these wild hogs. These
> proposed regulations can benefit swine producers, cattlemen, trappers and
> hunters, too."
>
> On June 6, a link to the text of the proposed regulations will appear on
> the TAHC website at
> <http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/>
http://www.tahc.state.tx.us. The proposed
> regulations also are available by calling the TAHC at 800-550-8242, ext
> 710. Comments on the proposed rules may be emailed to:
> <mailto:comments@tahc.state.tx.us>
comments@tahc.state.tx.us, faxed to
> 512-719-0719, or mailed to TAHC Comments, Box 12966, Austin, TX
> 78711-2966. Comments are due no later than July 6.
>
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