Group Revives Push to Outlaw Hunting, Fishing & Ranching in Oregon
By Joe Hathaway on Tuesday, August 8th, 2023 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
PORTLAND — An animal rights ballot initiative is underway in Oregon that seeks to make hunting, fishing and raising cattle for slaughter illegal.
Initiative Petition 3 (IP3) criminalizes injuring or intentionally killing animals, including utilizing breeding practices and raising/killing livestock for food. Originally intended for Oregon’s November 2022 election, proponents regrouped and filed a ballot initiative for the 2024 November general election.
To qualify, they must deliver 120,413 signatures for verification to the Oregon Secretary of State by July 5, 2024. Proponents say they’ve gathered just over 30,000 as of the end of July.
If passed, IP3 would remove the exemption for hunting, fishing, and trapping from Oregon’s animal cruelty laws, meaning that any practice that involves the intentional injury of an animal would be criminalized.
IP3 would also prohibit ranchers from raising cattle and other livestock with the intent of breeding them and/or going to market. Instead, proponents say on the Yes on I3 website “encourage ranchers to transition to an alternative agriculture practice” or “help operate an animal sanctuary.”
The initiative would also force the Future Farmers of America, 4-H and similar organizations as well as rodeos to “adapt” their programs and procedures to be in compliance or they too would be criminalized.
“We’re asking Oregon voters to support our initiative because doing so would extend the same legal protections that our companion animals have to animals currently on farms, in research labs, in exhibitions, and out in the wild.” said David Michelson, who leads “Yes on IP3”. “We believe it is possible to create a world where our own needs for food, clothing, entertainment, etc. do not come at the expense of an animal’s need for life and bodily autonomy. Voting in favor of our initiative would help move society away from the routine killing of animals, and allow us to collectively strengthen our compassion for the sentient beings with whom we share our planet.”
More information on the measure from proponents can be found at yesonip3.org.
The Oregon Farm Bureau, which deeply opposes the measure, sent Elkhorn Media Group this statement:
“Oregon Farm Bureau and its members are deeply concerned about IP 3. This initiative petition represents the most extreme of the extreme animal rights agendas. IP 3, should it gather enough signatures to be put on the ballot, would cripple our state’s economy, and destroy entire communities, particularly in Eastern Oregon.
IP 3 disregards Oregon’s culture and heritage altogether, including a complete ban on hunting and fishing for tribal communities.
The passage of this initiative petition would undoubtedly reduce Oregon’s food supply and security, drive up food costs, put family farms and ranches out of business, and increase our reliance on out-of-state production of meat and dairy.
OFB is proud to be working with a large coalition of animal agriculture interests ranging from veterinarians, the equine industry, local governments, and cattlemen. There is no higher priority for us right now. Please join us at www.noip3.com“
Supporters of the initiative say it’s not likely the initiative would pass the ballot, but would be the starting point for future animal rights legislation.
“Given how normalized it is in our society to kill animals, not just in Oregon but nearly worldwide, we believe it is unlikely that our initiative will pass in 2024. By getting on the ballot in 2024, Oregon would be the first state in history to even consider protecting the lives of all animals within its boundaries. We believe this first vote will make a future initiative more likely to succeed. Suffragettes in Oregon used this same ballot measure strategy to win the right to vote—their initiative only passed after being voted on in six election cycles. It may similarly take an animal rights initiative like ours multiple election cycles to finally pass.”
