A radical Oregon ballot measure would make ordinary hunting, fishing, and farming a crime — and it is now on the brink of the 2026 ballot.
Story Snapshot
- Oregon’s Initiative Petition 28 (the PEACE Act) removes legal protections for hunting, fishing, and livestock farming, effectively treating them as animal abuse.[3]
- The measure would ban intentionally injuring or killing animals except in narrow self-defense or veterinary situations, wiping out in-state meat production and most animal research.[3][6]
- Supporters openly say it would protect farm, wild, and lab animals from slaughter, hunting, fishing, and experimentation by extending dog-and-cat-style protections to “all” animals.[6][17]
- Backers have already turned in more signatures than the 117,173 needed, putting this sweeping ban one step from the November 2026 ballot.[3][9]
What IP28 Actually Does To Hunting, Fishing, And Farming
Initiative Petition 28, branded the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions (PEACE) Act, attacks the backbone of Oregon’s animal law by deleting long-standing exemptions, not by passing a narrow cruelty fix.[3] Under current law, hunting, fishing, accepted animal husbandry, slaughter, research, wildlife management, and pest control are carved out from criminal animal abuse statutes.[3] IP28 would scrap those carveouts so that any intentional injury or killing of an animal could be prosecuted as abuse, except in limited self-defense or veterinary care situations.[3][6]
Supporters say their goal is to give farm, wild, and research animals the same protections dogs and cats already have, which means shielding them from slaughter, hunting, fishing, and experimentation.[6][17] Their own campaign explains that animal abuse is already defined as “intentional, knowing, and reckless injury” and that IP28 simply changes which animals are protected by that definition.[6] In plain terms, that means shooting a deer, catching a salmon, or sending a steer to slaughter would move into the same legal bucket as beating a pet.[3][6]
How Far The Ban Reaches: Food, Breeding, And Everyday Life
The National Agricultural Law Center notes that IP28 would remove exemptions for lawful hunting and fishing, accepted animal husbandry, commercial slaughter, scientific research, wildlife management, and pest control, expanding the reach of criminal statutes across daily life.[3] The Oregon Farm Bureau warns that by making nearly all killing or injury illegal, the state would become a “no kill or harm” sanctuary, eliminating in‑state meat, dairy, and animal protein production and forcing families to import food or go vegan.[2] That means higher food costs, weaker local food security, and dependence on global supply chains.[2][3]
Opponents also highlight how the measure rewrites what counts as sexual assault of animals by labeling routine breeding practices — including artificial insemination — as sexual assault, even when done for animal health or herd genetics.[2][6] This change would expose farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, breeders, and even pet owners to criminal charges for standard, humane practices that keep animals productive and healthy.[2][5] Everyday pest control is swept in as well, because IP28 removes protections for “reasonable activities” to control vermin, meaning killing rats or gophers could be treated like abuse.[1][3]
Conservation, Rural Culture, And Why It Matters Beyond Oregon
Hunting and fishing groups warn that IP28 would criminalize lawful hunting, fishing, and trapping and in the process gut the license-fee funding that supports conservation and wildlife programs.[1][7] Under the measure, a hunter could still legally pursue or even capture an animal, but the moment they kill it, they would be committing a crime under animal abuse law.[5] That flips the North American conservation model on its head, where regulated harvests fund habitat work, game wardens, and species recovery — all replaced by an aggressive animal-rights framework.[1][7]
Signature counts show this is no fringe idea: backers have submitted over the 117,173 valid signatures needed to qualify for the November 2026 ballot, though state officials still must verify them.[3][9] In Defense of Animals and the Yes on IP28 campaign celebrate the measure as a “landmark” effort to end what they call systemic abuse in farms, labs, rodeos, exhibitions, and the wild.[4][17] For conservatives nationwide, IP28 is a warning shot: activists are testing whether they can use ballot initiatives to erase hunting, fishing, and animal agriculture by redefining them as crimes — one state at a time.[3][6]
Sources:
[1] Web – New Oregon Initiative Would Criminalize Hunting, Fishing And Farming
[2] Web – Oregon IP28 Would Criminalize Hunting, Fishing, Trapping & Farming
[3] Web – No on IP28 – Oregon Farm Bureau
[4] Web – Oregon Initiative Petition 28 Draws Attention Ahead of 2026 Election
[5] Web – In Defense of Animals – Facebook
[6] Web – Oregon Initiative Petition 28 Threatens Responsible Animal …
[7] Web – Yes On IP28 | PEACE Act
[9] Web – Oregon Criminalize Hunting, Fishing, and Intentional Injury to …
[17] Web – A growing list of Oregon politicians are expressing opposition to a …
