An effort to effectively ban hunting, fishing, and even pest control in Oregon cleared a significant hurdle this week and is increasingly likely to appear on the November ballot.
Radicals started collecting signatures in 2024, and now they have crossed the threshold to place the measure in front of voters later this year. If approved, Initiative Petition 28 would criminalize any harm to animals and eradicate a proud sporting tradition in the Pacific Northwest.
Gun rights supporters, this is Exhibit A of where we are in 2026.
Protections for domestic animals would now encompass livestock and the wild
Also known as the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions (PEACE) Act, the measure would enormously expand currently laws that rightly protect dogs and cats. Wild animals, farm animals, and those used in research would have this protection.
No one is more disgusted by animal cruelty than the sporting community, but this is an insanity that should never get this far. Oregon features beautiful wild landscapes and an untold number of enthusiasts who enjoy hunting and fishing, but there’s a catch.
Rural residents may be at the mercy of big city voters
The state is controlled by a handful of highly populated urban areas. These huge voting blocks are not representative of Oregon’s citizenry away from the Pacific coast, yet they are poised to create a law that was unthinkable except to extreme fringes not long ago.
When the so-called PEACE Act was introduced, supporter David Michelson doubted that it would make it as far as it has.
“We really want to make Oregon the first state to vote on something like this,” he said. “We are aware that it is unlikely 50% of Oregonians are ready right now to move away from killing animals. But we want to get the conversation out there.”
Well, the conversation is definitely “out there.” With that said, it takes a lot of contempt for sporting traditions even to suggest eradicating centuries-old practices faithfully handed down from one generation to the next.
It could even be called un-American.
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