An outbreak of ferocious hogs in California has gotten so bad that, according to The New York Times, Golden State lawmakers are considering lifting all hunting restrictions in order to address the problem. From The Times:

“[Rampaging feral hogs] are tearing up lawns, ripping through golf course fairways, threatening the drinking water and disturbing the harvests at Napa vineyards. Many Californians want them dead.”

You know things are bad that residents of one of the most liberal areas of the country want these pigs hunted down and killed. Though all but two of California’s counties have wild pig populations, The Times reports that the San Francisco Bay area has been hit by a feral swine bomb. Worst of all, the animal’s diet entails nearly everything and has resulted in extensive property damage for people affected.

The outbreak of the pigs has gotten so bad, that most Bay area residents, not surprisingly, have had enough. However, when taking into account the destruction the animals are causing and the fact that this has happened there before, Bay area resident’s anger is understandable and justified. Again from The Times:

“The swine are inflicting a mounting economic toll in Lafayette, a suburb in the East Bay, where the pig invasion seems most acute. Before the pandemic the city shelled out $110,000 when pigs, rooting for grubs, churned soccer and baseball fields like a rototiller. The Park and Recreation Department installed fences around the fields and keeps a trapper on contract to capture and kill the pigs. Recently neighbors have been waking up to find their lawns churned into clumpy heaps of sod and dirt…

Nearby, and more potentially serious, are the hundreds of pigs that have invaded the creek beds that feed into the San Leandro reservoir, which at certain times provides drinking water for Oakland, Piedmont, Alameda, Hayward and other East Bay cities.”

The proposed legislation being considered by California lawmakers lifts the requirement that hunters pay a $25 fee and can only kill one animal. Essentially, hunters could seek out and kill as many pigs as they want. But, until and unless the bill is passed, Bay area residents will have to continue to rely on professional trappers to catch the wild animals late at night.

Unfortunately, the entire country could experience what California is in the very near future. No doubt animal rights groups, like PETA, are probably not amused at these events. But for normal people, it can mean quite a large supply of delicious pork meat for people to consume. Hang in there California!