Oregon animal rights referendum could ban fishing, hunting and pest control

An Oregon ballot drive backed by animal-rights activists could make fishing, hunting, trapping and even routine pest control criminal offenses if voters approve it in November. Initiative Petition 28, branded the PEACE Act, has already cleared enough signature support to put Democrats on alert in a state where rural counties, farms and angling communities still matter politically, even as the party dominates statewide power.

The measure would strip long-standing exemptions from Oregon’s animal cruelty laws, reaching beyond sport hunting and fishing to livestock slaughter, animal breeding, animal research and pest control. Supporters frame it as closing cruelty loopholes. Critics say it would turn ordinary wildlife management, agriculture and veterinary practices into crimes, with some versions of the proposal also raising concerns about treaty-protected tribal hunting and fishing rights.

The campaign behind the measure reported 131,220 signatures on June 17, after Oregon set the 2026 threshold at 117,173 valid signatures for an initiated state statute. If the signatures are validated, the proposal would go before voters in the November 2026 general election. That numerical milestone is what has shifted the fight from a fringe petition into a live political problem for both animal-rights advocates and Democrats trying to manage the backlash.

That backlash is already visible. Crook County Democrats unanimously adopted a resolution opposing Initiative Petition 28, saying the party stands for evidence-based policymaking, environmental stewardship, rural economic stability, tribal sovereignty, labor protections and humane treatment of animals. The local resolution warned that the measure would hit farmers, ranchers, anglers and hunters, and it pointed to the political cost of packaging a sweeping rights agenda as a cruelty measure in a state where rural counties can still punish overreach. For Oregon Democrats, that makes IP28 less a novelty than a coalition test with 2026 implications.