Controversial petition aims to ban hunting, fishing and pest control in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — A group is trying to ban hunting, fishing and pest control in Oregon.

The group is called the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions, or PEACE.

The initiative “criminalizes injuring or killing animals, including killing for food, hunting, fishing; criminalizes breeding practices.”

More specifically, injuring or killing animals, including farming, ranching, hunting, fishing, trapping, pest control, research/teaching; criminalizes breeding practices, would all be a crime.

The only exceptions are some veterinary practices and self-defense, like if a pest becomes a health risk.

“There are so many different alternatives. Thirty percent of Oregon agricultural sales are animal related, 70% are crops. We can have 100% of those be crops if we wanted to,” David Michelson, chief petitioner of IP28 told KATU.

(Poll results are not scientific)

Michelson agrees that eliminating hunting and fishing licenses would remove funding from wildlife management but argues that it would a create job training fund for people who lose their livelihoods because of the initiative’s enactment.

“When it comes to animal agriculture, shifting to plant agriculture, that is obviously a big thing, shifting some farms potentially to animal sanctuaries, similar to how the OHSU Primate Research Lab is currently in talks to transition their primate lab into a primate sanctuary. I think the same thing could be done for some animal farms as well,” Michelson said.

He noted the initiative does not protect insects.

The group says killing animals is a choice and that the initiative prioritizes plants instead of killing animals and argues that there is no reason to maintain the status quo.

This is not the first time a group has tried to criminalize hunting and fishing.

However, this time hunters and restaurant owners say they are concerned because of the amount of attention the move has gotten.

Michelle Wachsmuth is a fourth-generation owner of Dan & Louis Oyster Bar in Portland’s Old Town neighborhood. She told KATU the impact would be far greater.

“It would be devastating for our business. I would still be serving seafood, but we would have to import everything from another state. Oregon is already — downtown Portland is already in a recession. And Oregon is number five in unemployment. And it’s gonna send us right from a recession right into a depression. It’s like, how much more can this poor state take?”

Wachsmuth says businesses already have sustainable business practices to avoid animal cruelty concerns.

“We always buy sustainable seafood. We try to make sure that we get wild caught whenever we can. We only use farm raised oysters. We try to do everything we can to make sure we keep Oregon sustainable. And so if you take all of that away, it would just devastate not just restaurants, not just grocery stores, but it hits the farmers. It hits everybody. It would devastate this entire state to shut down hunting, fishing, and animal farming,” she said.

The Oregon Hunters Association also shared deep concerns about the impact the initiative could have if voters approve it.

“It’s not only a way of life. It’s how a lot of folks feed their families. And at the end of the day, we’re not talking about tens of millions of dollars. We’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars each year that contribute to the economy,” Todd Adkins, executive director for Oregon Hunters Association, told KATU.

He noted fishing license fees and taxes go toward conservation efforts, but Michelson argued that those make up a small percentage of ODFW’s revenue.

“When we think about hiking and bird watching and all of these activities that all Oregonians support and many of them engage in, IP 28 strikes at the heart of this entire way of life. So, we’re trying to warn everybody and educate everybody,” Adkins said.

Back in Old Town, Wachsmuth is concerned. If the initiative makes in on the ballot and voters approve it, it will add to Portland’s struggling economy.

“We need to just do whatever we can to help grow downtown again. And taking away all meat is not gonna do that,” she said.

Michelson says this is the closest they’ve gotten to putting the issue on the ballot after gathering 105,000 signatures since July 2024. They will need 117,000 verified signatures to get the measure on the 2026 November ballot.

Even if it does not make it on the November ballot, Michelson believes the movement is starting a valuable conversation.

“I think most of the people we talk to acknowledge that the way we currently treat animals is different than the way they would like animals to be treated. And even if they are concerned or unsure about whether this step is, we’re not ready or too much or whatever the case may be, they at least want to have the conversation, and that’s all that our campaign can actually do,” Michelson said.