Comedian Whitney Cummings sparks social media outrage over small Texas town's legal tradition

Jake Loiacano, the owner the East Texas Hog Baying Championships in Kountze, has been facing some backlash after a comedian claimed that the practice of hog baying was "illegal." Texas law allows hog baying, and Loiacano is permitted by the Texas Animal Health Commission to house feral hogs. The photos above show live shots of the competition in Kountze. less Jake Loiacano, the owner the East Texas Hog Baying Championships in Kountze, has been facing some backlash after a comedian claimed that the practice of hog baying was "illegal." Texas law allows hog baying, ... more Photo: Courtesy Of Jake Loiacano Photo: Courtesy Of Jake Loiacano Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Comedian Whitney Cummings sparks social media outrage over small Texas town's legal tradition 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

Jake Loiacano has been trying to revive the sport of hog baying in Texas, even as critics use words like "fight" or "blood sport" or "cruel" to describe his events in the small town of Kountze.

Loiacano said hog baying, in which dogs enter a pen and hold a hog "at bay" for a defined period of time, used to be a widely popular sport in rural parts of the state. It doesn't involve fighting, but rather dogs containing a feral hog and keeping their focus for an extended period of time.

He said different events that involve physical contact between the hogs and dogs have been declared illegal in other states. But at Loiacano's events, the goal is to hold the hog at bay for up to two minutes. Dogs can be penalized for initiating contact with hogs. After that, the dogs go back with their owners, and the feral hogs return to their pen, he said.

Loiacano said the sport's popularity dwindled in Texas as event owners grew older. But just as it became his passion to preserve the sport, it became some animal rights' activists mission to stop his event in the name of animal cruelty.

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That's what led actress and comedian Whitney Cummings to write a letter to the mayor and sheriff of the City of Kountze last week, asking them to enforce state animal cruelty laws and shut Loiacano's event down.

Her comments came after she saw a flyer for one of Loiacano's upcoming events, the East Texas Hog Baying Championships, on Memorial Day weekend.

"I would like to see an investigation on who has dropped the ball in allowing it to go on for so long," she said in an email to Hardin County Sheriff Mark Davis, which was later posted on her Instagram and Facebook. "You can find me on social media (Instagram and Twitter) and I will continue to put public and media pressure on ending this event if it seems the city and county insist on looking the other way... My mother and much of my family is from Texas, and I think this is very beneath the spirit of Texas to allow this event to occur. It's a very bad look on a great state."

Cummings also described the event as "illegal" and "cruel." Loiacano responded the following week when he heard about the letter and social media posts.

"She's using her platform to talk bad about something she doesn't know anything about," he told Chron.com."There's no fight at all, and it's sanctioned by the State of Texas."

Loiacano is used to pushing back against animal rights activists who maintain that the practice is cruel. In a 2017 Houston Press article, PETA animal cruelty investigator Stephanie Bell said it's still torturous to the pig even without physical contact.

"They don't know they are not going to be mauled and ripped apart," Bell told the Press. "Dogs are coming after them and vocalizing, and so it's a terrifying experience for them, regardless."

In another email to the Press, Katie Jarl, the Texas director of the Humane Society of the United States, called it a "perversion of hog hunting." She also criticized the fact that Loiacano clips or "dubs" the hogs' tusks to prevent injury to the dog.

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Harding County Sheriff Mark Davis for years has been aware of Loiacano's event. He said it doesn't violate any part of state law.

"The local district attorney has looked at all that, and there is no criminal matter to be referred to him," Davis told Chron.com. "If something changes, then obviously we'll step forward."

Loiacano is also permitted by the Texas Animal Health Commission to transport and house feral hogs, according to a public registry on the agency's website. Each month, the agency inspects his property, where he houses and feeds roughly 40 feral hogs.

Feral hogs are considered an invasive species or "nuisance animals" in Texas. Their takeover of the state has been well documented. They tear up lawns and plants, poop in the water supply and skulk around highways, according to a 2017 report in the Dallas Morning News.

Texas landowners can get rid of a hog in their property by any means necessary, including shooting, snaring, trapping and capture with dogs trained for that purpose, according the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension website.

"I basically rescued these hogs," Loiacano said.

Loiacano, who holds three different events at his property in Kountze, said the East Texas Hog Baying Championships has been going on there since the late 1980s. He's been participating since the 1990s.

As the owner, he charges roughly $20 to attendees, and winners could take home prizes up to $5,000.

He said he bought the event seven years ago to keep the sport alive, but it requires passion and hard work, he said.

"The only reason I [bought the event] was because the sport was dying," he said. "For anybody with a full-time job, it's too hard to keep up and take care of the animals."

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | NEWS WHEN YOU NEED IT: Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message | Sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to your email here.