By A sweeping animal rights initiative that would narrow or eliminate major exemptions in Oregon’s animal cruelty laws has moved closer to the November 2026 ballot after supporters submitted enough signatures to trigger state review.
Initiative Petition 28, formally known as the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions Act, or PEACE Act, would amend Chapter 167 of the Oregon Revised Statutes. The proposal seeks to remove long-standing legal exemptions for hunting, fishing, trapping, livestock farming, breeding, wildlife management, pest control, scientific research, and other agricultural practices currently shielded from portions of Oregon’s animal abuse, neglect, and sexual assault statutes. The measure would include the setting of mousetraps.
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. A Portland City Council member wants to rename Cesar Chavez Blvd. Details: https://t.co/JUbTl3v7Dy pic.twitter.com/ogLTjSzdvQ
— KATU News (@KATUNews) May 26, 2026
Supporters submitted roughly 120,935 signatures, surpassing the 117,173 valid signatures required for an initiated state statute. The Oregon Secretary of State’s office must now verify the signatures through random sampling. If certified, the measure would appear before voters on Nov. 3, 2026.
The initiative would extend protections now associated mainly with companion animals, such as dogs and cats, to a much broader category of nonhuman animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. In practice, it would generally criminalize the intentional, knowing, or reckless injury or killing of animals, with limited exceptions, chiefly for immediate self-defense against harm to people or other animals.
That language has made the measure one of the most controversial potential ballot questions in Oregon. Critics argue that its practical effect could reach far beyond conventional animal cruelty enforcement and into hunting, fishing, commercial slaughter, livestock production, breeding, and routine animal husbandry practices such as artificial insemination, castration, dehorning, and tail docking. The measure also would broaden minimum care standards, requiring adequate food, water, shelter, bedding, and exercise space across a wider range of animals.
The proposal would also create a “Humane Transition Fund” to receive revenues from sources the initiative describes as obsolete.
Supporters frame the PEACE Act as a moral and legal update to Oregon law, arguing that animals are sentient beings capable of suffering and that current exemptions allow unnecessary harm to continue under the cover of accepted industry practice. Chief petitioner David Michelson has described the effort as a way to force a broader public conversation about animal exploitation, even while acknowledging that winning voter approval in 2026 could be difficult.
Opposition is already organized. Agricultural, hunting, fishing, and conservation groups, including the Oregon Hunters Association, Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, National Wild Turkey Federation, and other sportsmen’s organizations, warn that IP-28 would disrupt rural economies, food production, wildlife management, and long-standing outdoor traditions.
Opponents argue that the initiative is written so broadly that it could threaten commercial fishing, family farms, livestock operations, pest control, and scientific research. They also warn that restricting managed hunting could worsen wildlife overpopulation, raise food costs, and create major enforcement problems for local prosecutors and law enforcement agencies.
The proposal’s critics have also attacked its branding, arguing that the title emphasizes animal cruelty while obscuring the measure’s potential impact on ordinary agricultural and outdoor activities. In rural and outdoor communities, reaction has been sharply negative, with many residents warning that the initiative would undermine personal freedom, local food systems, and Oregon’s hunting and fishing culture.
The measure follows earlier efforts by animal rights activists to place similar proposals before Oregon voters. Those previous campaigns failed to qualify for the ballot.
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