Judicial Victory for Texas Hog Hunters Against Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller’s Poison Program
March 2, 2017
This afternoon, State District Judge Jan Soifer issued a temporary restraining order enjoining Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller and the Texas Department of Agriculture from implementing the “emergency rule” that they had issued to try to facilitate the use of rat poison across Texas lands for feral hogs. Specifically, the court ruling stated in part that Defendants Sid Miller and the Department “did not follow the requirements of the Texas Administrative Procedure Act . . . and so therefore the rule is invalid.”
The Plaintiff in the case was Wild Boar Meats, L.L.C, a feral-hog processing business headquartered in Hubbard, Texas. The Texas Hog Hunters Association (THHA) and the Environmental Defense Fund also intervened in the case on the side of Wild Boar Meats.
The illegal emergency rule, issued without public notice or comment, drew substantial opposition from Texas hunters, property owners, environmentalists, and Texas legislators.
Eydin Hansen, Vice President of THHA, said “15,000 members and supporters of THHA have signed a petition against this ill-advised rule. Spreading rat poison across Texas lands would hurt Texas hunters, Texas hunting-supply businesses, Texas feral-hog meat processing businesses, Texas ranchers, and the Texas environment. We are very grateful that Judge Soifer ruled in our favor. We hope that Commissioner Miller will now follow the law and allow public comment and careful consideration before proposing use of any poison on feral hogs. The emergency rule would have damaged feral-hog control in Texas rather than helping it. We urge all Texans to contact their elected representatives to make sure that Texas lands are not poisoned in this manner.”