A petition to ban most hunting, fishing, and animal research in Oregon has reached the amount of signatures necessary to make it onto the November ballot, supporters of the effort say.

Hunting, Fishing Could Face Ban Under Controversial Petition In Blue State

KATU has more:

Supporters of an effort to criminalize the killing of animals for food in Oregon are one step closer in getting a measure on the November ballot.

Initiative Petition 28 would make it illegal to injure or kill animals and would effectively ban hunting, fishing and the breeding of animals.

"A proposal to make hunting and fishing illegal in Oregon has received enough signatures to advance to the Nov. ballot. The Sec. of State needs to validate all the signatures first," the outlet wrote.

More below:

The proposed ballot initiative would categorize hunting, fishing, and trapping as forms of animal cruelty.

ADVERTISEMENT

The effort has gathered more than the required 117,000 signatures.

However, it's doubtful that all the signatures will be verified.

OregonLive explained further:

The backers of Initiative Petition 28, which would expand Oregon’s animal cruelty laws, have now collected and submitted more than 120,000 signatures to the state — slightly above the roughly 117,000 signatures required to get the measure on the ballot.

However, a portion of those signatures will almost certainly be ruled ineligible, such as any from individuals who are not registered voters. At least 15% of signatures were rejected from each of the four initiative petitions that have qualified for the ballot since 2022, state records show.

Leaders of the campaign say it’s too early to know whether they will make the ballot, but they say they are hopeful. They have until July 2 to submit enough valid signatures.

“I am grateful that we have been picking up speed the past few months,” David Michelson, leader of the campaign, said Tuesday. “I think that it is definitely possible that we could qualify, that we could turn in enough signatures, but we will be using every day before the deadline to collect signatures.”

If approved by voters, the ballot initiative would remove many exemptions from Oregon animal cruelty laws that apply to various recreational and occupational activities.

In practice, the measure would prohibit hunting, fishing, slaughtering livestock, conducting scientific research on animals, using animals in rodeos, operating a commercial poultry business and castrating or neutering livestock, among other activities.

Read the full proposed initiative HERE.

ADVERTISEMENT
 

Join The Conversation. Leave a Comment.