According to a National Review (NR) report by Wesley J. Smith, Oregon progressives are once again trying to outdo themselves, this time with a ballot initiative so extreme it would effectively outlaw animal agriculture, hunting, fishing, and even animal research in the state. It is being marketed as an anti cruelty measure, but once you read what is actually in it, the real goal becomes obvious. Criminalize nearly all human use of animals and pretend that is compassion.
The proposal, known as Initiative Petition 28, claims to be about protecting animals. The language sounds nice at first. Equal protection under the law, freedom from cruelty, all the usual emotional buzzwords. But buried in the fine print is a sweeping removal of long standing exemptions that currently allow farming, ranching, hunting, fishing, breeding, and wildlife management to exist at all.
Under IP28, intentionally injuring or killing an animal would be criminalized. That might sound reasonable to someone skimming headlines, but in reality it would mean no slaughtering animals for food and no breeding livestock through artificial means. In other words, animal agriculture in Oregon would be dead overnight.
The activists pushing this measure do not even try to hide it. They openly admit that ranchers could no longer kill animals and suggest they instead transition to alternative agriculture or turn their land into animal sanctuaries. Yes, sanctuaries. Because that is obviously a realistic solution for feeding millions of people and keeping food prices affordable.
And if you are thinking hunting and fishing would not be affected, think again. IP28 would remove the exemptions for hunting, fishing, and trapping as well. You could legally pursue an animal or even capture it, but the moment you actually kill it, you would be committing a crime. Conservation, wildlife management, population control, and the North American model of conservation apparently did not make the cut.
It does not stop there. The measure would also end all animal research in Oregon and even impact dog breeding, according to the American Kennel Club. And just in case anyone still thinks this is only about Oregon, the organizers make their long term goal crystal clear. They want to take this model nationwide until killing animals is illegal everywhere. Oregon is simply the test run.
To soften the blow, IP28 even sets aside money to retrain workers who lose their jobs when animal agriculture is effectively wiped out. That alone tells you everything you need to know about what this initiative is really designed to do.
Some people will brush this off and say it will never pass. Maybe. But this is Oregon, a state where anything labeled progressive has a habit of making it frighteningly far. According to National Review, the measure has already collected tens of thousands of signatures and is well on its way to qualifying for the ballot.
As National Review rightly points out, this is not about animal welfare. It is about ideology. It is about elevating animals to legal equality with humans while turning hunters, ranchers, and researchers into criminals. It is emotional politics replacing common sense, and if voters do not pay attention, the consequences could be very real.
