Animal rights activists in Oregon are pushing a measure that would criminalize hunters and fishers in the state. Now, they may have gathered enough support to put the issue before voters in November.
A coalition of animal rights groups called “End Animal Cruelty” launched an effort to create a ballot initiative called the PEACE Act back in 2024. Ballotpedia reported that the campaign has reached the signature threshold needed to qualify for the ballot.
Supporters of the PEACE Act, also known as Initiative Petition 28, submitted over 120,000 signatures. Oregon requires 117,173 valid signatures by July 2 to place the measure on the ballot.
The measure would make it illegal to intentionally injure or kill an animal by removing exemptions in the state’s animal cruelty laws that protect hunting, fishing, and trapping. It would also target those who breed animals as well.
Hey Oregon friends, have you actually read the Initiative Petition 28 (the PEACE Act) that just qualified for the November 2026 ballot?
— 𝒜𝓃𝒾𝓉𝒶𝐹𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓀𝑒💞 (@AFkokogems) May 26, 2026
It seems a lot of people signed it because signature gatherers pitched it simply as “protecting animals from cruelty.” Sounds good on the… https://t.co/v3JJZTyTJi pic.twitter.com/6S34qeFGgX
It would also apply to animal husbandry, slaughtering livestock and poultry, wildlife management, rodeos, research and control of nuisance animals. It would also eliminate hunting and fishing licenses while sending state money to animal welfare programs, food assistance and job training for people who lose their jobs over the law.
However, this does not necessarily mean the initiative will go on the ballot in November. The state still has to verify the signatures to ensure their validity. Still, the fact that so many Oregonians were willing to sign such a petition suggests two possibilities.
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Attention EVERYONE
— Won't Stop 🇺🇸 Can't Stop 🇺🇸 (@No_Apologee) May 26, 2026
Oregon just cleared signatures for Initiative Petition 28 — the insane “PEACE Act” that would ban hunting, fishing, trapping, livestock farming, breeding animals, and most pest control.
This isn’t “protecting animals from cruelty.”
It reclassifies normal…
The first is that those gathering the signatures did not tell those who signed that it would ban hunting and fishing. Second, they could have been honest about the purpose of the measure and there are actually that many people in Oregon who think it’s a good idea to throw people in cages for fishing at the lake. I’d imagine most of these people live in cities, and not in rural areas.
Needless to say, this ballot measure is a vicious assault on liberty. It’s part of a wholesale effort on the part of the animal rights movement to use the threat of government violence on those who do not subscribe to their ridiculous ideology. If this ballot measure succeeds, there can be no doubt that these people who push similar measures in other states if they manage to persuade enough people to believe animals are just as important as humans.
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