Scimetrics Ltd. Corp., the maker of Kaput Feral Hog Bait, has withdrawn its registration in the state of Texas. The first feral hog pesticide to be approved in the United States raised headlines last week when the Texas House voted 127-12 in favor of House Bill 3451, that would require a state agency or university to research before the use of Kaput Feral Hog Lure.
In February, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller had approved the feral hog pesticide, often used as bait food laced with warfarin — the same drug used to kill rats.
The company issued this statement Tuesday:
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.
The Kaput Feral Hog Bait label has been approved by the U.S. EPA, which requires meeting stringent testing and documentation requirements. 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. 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.
Unfortunately, we have discontinued our attempts to provide this resource in Texas at this time. We are grateful for the support we have received from the agricultural community of Texas.
