COLLBRAN, Colo. — Exotic hogs seized by the state from a 760-acre Collbran ranch have been euthanized to prevent the spread of pseudorabies, which can be contagious to wildlife and domestic pets.
Exotic sheep also seized and quarantined in a livestock trailer on Nov. 17 were shipped back to Texas, where they came from.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture and the Division of Wildlife quarantined the animals at the Little Creek Ranch, owned and operated by Alan Baier.
A spokesman for the Division of Wildlife said he could not comment on possible civil or criminal penalties or regulatory violations.
“It’s an ongoing investigation. We really can’t comment,” said Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton. “At the present time, the priority for the Division of Wildlife is the containment of pseudorabies.
Officers with the state have tested the feral hogs, and some of them tested positive for pseudorabies.
“With the discovery of a positive test result, further testing of hogs on the ranch is unnecessary as all are potentially exposed,” as the virus spreads easily among swine, said Hampton. “The majority are either infected or carriers.”
Because of the virus, Baier has agreed to kill all the pigs on the ranch, Hampton said.
Feral hogs are illegal to possess in Colorado, Hampton said. Over the last two years, the Division of Wildlife knows of at least 30 feral hogs killed on ranches adjacent to the Little Creek Ranch by the ranch operators or by division personnel.
The Little Creek Ranch has a commercial wildlife park license, and it got the license before the state banned owning feral hogs. Because of that, Baier’s permission to own the hogs was grandfathered in, and they continue to have permission to have hogs on the ranch, Hampton said.
The original quarantine order cited more than 80 areas of the ranch’s fence that needed fixing. With holes in the fence, animals are able to leave the ranch,
potentially affecting the area wildlife and domestic livestock, the division has said.
“There are strict requirements in the licensing of the ranch for animals’ health and fencing that the ranch is required to live up to,” Hampton said.
Baier is “working on that,” Hampton said, referring to fixing the fence.
The state has maintained communication with Baier and his attorney, Hampton said.