An Oregon animal rights campaign is one step closer to a reality that would effectively ban all hunting, fishing, livestock farming, and animal research across the state.
Oregon Initiative Petition 28 (IP28), which would categorize hunting, fishing, trapping, and farming as forms of animal cruelty, has now garnered more than 117,000 signatures, making it eligible for ballot consideration by the Secretary of State in the upcoming November elections.
An effort to criminalize the killing of animals for food in Oregon is a step closer to being on the November ballot.
IP-28 would make it illegal to injure or kill animals and would effectively ban hunting, fishing and the breeding of animals. https://t.co/Je1Z43xKAm
— KATU News (@KATUNews) May 26, 2026
According to the Oregon Hunters Association (OHA), the so-called PEACE Act would eliminate legal exemptions that currently protect hunting, fishing, trapping, and farming from prosecution under Oregon’s animal abuse statutes.
If passed, the referendum would open more than 330,000 licensed hunters and 500,000 anglers to criminal liability and potential prosecution.
It would also jeopardize the treaty-protected hunting and fishing rights of nine sovereign tribes.
Insiders say the potential ban would also extend well beyond recreational hunting and fishing to commercial fishing and crabbing on the Oregon coast.
And it would even criminalize routine pest control in urban areas.
One OHA told Field & Stream magazine that out-of-state animal rights organizations are organizing and driving the ballot push.
However, a broad coalition of conservation and special interest groups ranging from the Oregon Farm Bureau and the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association to Ducks Unlimited and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers continues to fight it.
The Oregon Sportsmen Legislative Caucus, made up of Democrats and Republicans in the Oregon State Senate, has also issued a joint statement opposing IP28, calling it an attack on the state’s rural economy and cultural heritage.
Todd Adkins, OHA’s newly appointed Executive Director, told Field & Stream that canvassers have amassed more than 120,000 signatures in support of the measure as of May 26.
“It’s a remarkable example of extremism,” Adkins says.
“This is what animal extremism looks like if it’s left unchecked.”
Adkins says a referendum to cancel all hunting and fishing in the state would cripple the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, which relies on dollars generated by hunting and fishing license fee as well as federal excise taxes on guns, ammo, and other sporting goods items.
“I’m not even sure we can project or estimate the hit that Pittman-Robertson would take,” he says.
“The agency’s budget for wildlife management would just be gone instantly.”
Other wildlife and hunting advocates continue to speak out against the proposal.
“[It’s] an all out assault on Oregonians’ way of life,” Oregon gubernatorial candidate Sen. Christine Drazan told the Statesman Journal.
“It criminalizes ranchers, farmers, meat producers and threatens to kill thousands of jobs. It would mean the end of hunting and fishing in Oregon, killing not only traditions and ending access to an essential source of food, but butchering natural resource-based industries that support hunting and fishing,” she said.
Farmers across Oregon said the bill would hurt local ranchers and be a shot to the state’s economy.
“This would expose farmers, ranchers, veterinarians, breeders and animal owners to criminal liability for standard, humane practices that are essential to animal health, food production and genetic management,” Oregon Farm Bureau said on its website.
Despite having the now-required number of signatures, experts say a portion of the signatures collected for the initiative will likely be ruled ineligible, such as any from individuals who are not registered voters, but organizers have until July 2 to submit enough valid signatures.
If at least 117,173 signatures are verified, early mail-in voting on the ballot initiative could begin 14 to 18 days before the general November election cycle.
This is an ongoing story. Check back for further updates.