Wild pig poison manufacturer pulls out of Texas market

Published 10:15 am Wednesday, April 26, 2017

STEVE KNIGHT/steve@texasalloutdoors.com

Facing an injunction and legislation that would require in-state testing, the maker of Kaput Hog Bait has withdrawn its product from the Texas market.

In a press release Colorado-based Scimetrics Ltd. Corp. said:

Scimetrics Ltd Corp has withdrawn its registration of Kaput Feral Hog Bait in the state of Texas. We have received tremendous support from farmers and ranchers in the State of Texas, and have empathy for the environmental devastation, endangered species predation, and crop damage being inflicted there by a non-native animal.

However, under the threat of many lawsuits, our family-owned company cannot at this time risk the disruption of our business and continue to compete with special interests in Texas that have larger resources to sustain a lengthy legal battle,” said the company.

The Kaput Feral Hog Bait label has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which Scimetrics Ltd. Corp. said requires meeting stringent testing and documentation requirements. The product is available for purchase in Oklahoma.

“To meet these high standards, many years of work have gone into developing and proving the safety and effectiveness of Kaput Feral Hog Bait. We had hoped to provide this valuable new resource to the farmers of Texas, whose crops and land have been devastated by the estimated 2.5 million feral hogs in the state,” said the company. “We had also hoped to alleviate the risk posed by the many diseases these hogs carry being transmitted to both the livestock and the food supply of Texas, by offering an alternative solution to current programs that cannot keep up with the quickly growing feral hog population.”

The warfarin-based bait was approved for use in Texas under a change of rules by Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller. Under the rules the bait could only be used under limited use by licensed applicators.

However, its use was stopped when Wild Boar Meats of Hubbard, a manufacturer of dog food using wild pig meat, sought and received a restraining order through a state district court in Austin.

Following that State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and Rep. Lynn Stucky, R-Denton, have filed separate bills calling for trials on the product to be run in Texas to determine what impact its use would have on hunters, other property owners who may sell hunts for pigs and its environmental impact on other animals and fish.

Approval of the bait did not garner support from either Texas Parks and Wildlife Department or Texas AgriLife Extension Service. Both Texas Wildlife Association and Texas Veterinary Medical Association both announced their support of Watson’s S.B. 1454 and Stucky’s H.B. 3451 before allow the products use.

Use of the bait was supported by the Texas Farm Bureau.

TPWD continues to conduct its own research on a sodium nitrite product at its Kerr Wildlife Management area. It has filed for an experimental use permit from the EPA, and hopes to begin a larger scale study by 2018. The TPWD study is to look at non-target species including vultures, raccoons, white-tailed deer and coyotes. Preliminary results are favorable.