The campaign behind a ballot initiative to criminalize hunting, fishing, and any intentional injury to animals in Oregon submitted over 120,000 signatures as of May 20.
The initiative, referred to by the sponsors as the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions (PEACE) Act, would amend Chapter 167 of the Oregon Revised Statutes to remove certain exemptions to animal cruelty laws. The measure would criminalize:
- Hunting, fishing, and trapping of animals;
- Slaughter of any animal for food;
- Actions currently protected as good animal husbandry in existing state law (e.g., dehorning cattle, docking livestock, and castration or neutering of livestock);
- Commercial poultry operations;
- Any farming practice that causes physical injury, stress, or fails minimum care standards established by the initiative;
- Certain wildlife management practices (e.g., culling programs, invasive species control, predator management); and
- Setting mousetraps, pest extermination, or rodent control if it causes physical injury or death to a protected animal.
The only exceptions allowed under the initiative for harming or killing a protected animal are self-defense against an immediate threat to yourself, other humans, or other animals, and good veterinary practices defined in state law. Under the initiative, protected animals would include any nonhuman mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish.
The initiative would also establish a Humane Transition Fund to fund food assistance, income replacement, job retraining, animal care costs, and conservation and rewilding efforts for individuals affected by the initiative’s changes. The initiative requires the legislature to allocate money to the fund.
While previous animal treatment measures have addressed certain hunting methods, wildlife trafficking, farm animal confinement, animal fighting, racing, and animal experimentation, none have sought to criminalize all hunting, fishing, the slaughter of animals for food, and livestock husbandry altogether. Conversely, 25 states have enshrined a right to hunt and fish in their respective state constitutions. Vermont was the first state to constitutionalize such a right in 1777, and Florida was the most recent state to adopt one in 2024.
Yes on IP 28 reported $304,818.28 in contributions through May 26. The top donors were Craigslist Charitable Fund ($30,000), David Michelson ($28,110), Owen Gunden ($25,000), and Postnov Leonid ($25,000).
The campaign website for Yes on IP 28 says, “Our initiative, if passed, would extend the same legal protections our companion animals currently have to those other animals, which would consequently prohibit slaughtering, hunting, experimentation and any other intentional injury towards animals aside from self-defense and veterinary practices. We believe this initiative is needed because right now when we choose to kill animals to meet our own needs, we are doing so at the expense of the animals' needs—and we're confident that there are alternative strategies we can use to meet our needs and their needs simultaneously.”
In opposition to the initiative, Andy Walgamott for the Northwest Sportsman Magazine, said, “Initiative Petition 28 cloaks itself as an anti-animal cruelty campaign, but in reality it would essentially criminalize hunting, fishing and trapping in the Beaver State, put ranchers out of business, and prevent you from even raising your own chickens for the table or trapping rodents damaging your home or business. IP28 represents an existential threat to our shared way of life, not to mention all Oregon-based fishing and hunting businesses such as guide and outfitter services, gear and tackle makers, magazines, sporting goods stores, sportsmen’s shows, fishing boat dealers and even an entire state agency, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which is funded in no small part by our license revenues.”
In 2024, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife received over $55 million in hunting and fishing licensing revenue.
To qualify the initiative for the ballot, the campaign must submit 117,173 valid signatures, which is equal to 6% of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial election. This is the first initiative in Oregon to submit more than the required number of signatures for the November ballot. As of May 1, 90 ballot initiatives have been filed with the secretary of state, and 10 were cleared for signature gathering. The signature deadline in Oregon is July 2.
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