SAN JOSE — Let the pig shooting season begin.

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday approved an urgency measure to allow state-permitted shooting of wild pigs that have been ripping up lawns and golf course fairways in recent weeks. The measure passed by a single vote and will remain in effect for three months, before council members discuss a long-term shooting law next year.

Councilman Johnny Khamis went so far as to intimate that it’s either them or us when it comes to the pigs, saying he didn’t want to see the first pig-related human “casualty” in the city.

“It’s not my intention to go out and commit a pig genocide,” said Khamis. “I’m only here to make sure the public is not harmed by these very bold group of animals.”

Only property owners who have provided documentation showing their property sustained damage from pigs will be able to obtain a state permit to shoot them. The pigs can only be shot on the property they are damaging — not out in the wild.

The new law, effective through Feb. 5, requires anyone who would shoot a wild pig within the city to obtain a depredation permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The council needed a supermajority of eight votes to pass the urgency ordinance that takes effect immediately. It passed 8-3. Council members Rose Herrera, Ash Kalra and Donald Rocha were concerned about people firing guns near homes.

For reasons no one can quite fully understand, dozens of the 200-pound boars have been hoofing around ritzy Almaden Valley in South San Jose this fall — turning what for years had been an occasional nuisance into a full-on crisis. Homes and businesses have reported thousands of dollars in damage as the pigs try to dig up food under the grass, and one resident even scared a boar off his property with a car. But no one has reported any attacks.

“What we’re talking about are not the ‘Three Little Pigs,’ like ‘Babe’ or (cartoon characters) you see on TV. They’re not cute and cuddly,” said Councilman Pete Constant. “There are people who are genuinely scared, and I’m glad they’re not comfortable going up trying to pet them.”

It follows the council’s decision last year to allow Mineta San Jose International Airport employees to shoot birds after they started to pose a risk to plane engines. Other than that, typically the only non-law enforcement who can shoot guns in the city lawfully are people at firing ranges or in self-defense.

Follow Mike Rosenberg at twitter.com/RosenbergMerc.