Landowners can shoot feral hogs without a license under this Statehouse-approved bill

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A bill meant to curb Ohio's feral swine population by permitting property owners to shoot and kill them without a license has been sent to Gov. Mike DeWine's desk.

The legislation, House Bill 503, received bipartisan Statehouse approval on Dec. 11 when the Ohio House voted to concur with amendments made in the Ohio Senate. The measure will allow landowners to kill a feral hog without a license, as long as the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is notified within 24 hours.

Rep. Bob Peterson (R-Sabina), the bill's primary sponsor, testified in November that feral swine are often "descendants of escaped, released pigs, or imported swine" that cause $1.5 billion in damages nationwide every year. In Ohio, they're often found in Adams, Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Scioto and Vinton counties.

"These are not the typical, everyday pig that we see at our county fairs. These are animals that are a nuisance to landowners around the nation and are a threat to Ohio's park economy," Peterson said. "Feral swine are destructive and dangerous. They have no redeeming value other than their head mounted on a wall."

Peterson's legislation received nearly unanimous support in the House and Senate and little opposition testimony. Wayne Shingler, a Franklin County farmer who spoke against H.B. 503 during a Dec. 10 hearing, said he takes issue with a provision that eliminates an existing license to feed garbage to swine and prohibits bringing swine into Ohio who have been garbage-fed.

"With so many municipalities taking an interest in diverting food waste from landfills, Ohio should be promoting garbage feeding, not banning it," Shingler said. "If my boiling a pot of leftovers for my pigs in Franklin County is going to attract feral swine from 100 miles away, then the only way we could possibly avoid attracting them is to ban all cooking statewide."

Several industry organizations backed the bill, like Ohio's Farm Bureau, Poultry Association and Forestry Association. The Ohio Pork Council testified in November that feral swine post an enormous outbreak risk as they are potential carriers for at least 30 diseases, including swine brucellosis, pseudorabies, foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever.

"The arrival of even a single ASF-infected wild pig in Ohio could have devastating consequences," said Cheryl Day, Ohio Pork Council vice president. "If we fail and ASF strikes, the U.S. pork export market would halt, and domestic hog prices would immediately drop by 50 to 60%, putting our farmers and all related industries at great financial risk."

Sen. Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster), chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said he supported the bill given the ballooning feral hog problem in other states like Texas, Georgia and Kansas.

"Other states are desperately dealing with the feral swine problem. Even Texas spends about 1/3 of a billion dollars simply trying to contain its feral swine epidemic," Schaffer said. "It's time to eliminate this problem for our farmers in southern Ohio and prevent it from spreading elsewhere."