People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions have filed for Initiative Petition 28 to be decided by the voters of Oregon during the 2026 general election.  The ballot initiative would remove certain exemptions from animal cruelty laws prohibiting any activity other than self-defense or veterinary practice that intentionally injures or kills animals. Adoption of Oregon IP28 would effectively invalidate all livestock operations.

The intent as stated would be to “be protective of the needs of animals and to codify their right to life and bodily autonomy.” IP28 would also establish a “Humane Transition Fund” to provide grants to replace lost income, compensate farmers, to subsidize job retaining and permit conservation and re-wilding of livestock.

This extreme and unworkable proposition representing the most radical ideology should not pass.  It will however generate awareness of the negative aspects of livestock production and raise funds for the organizers.

Ballot initiatives were regarded as necessary as territories became states, but they are now anachronistic and run counter to the regular legislative process with inherent checks and balances.  It is far easier to bamboozle voters with complex and deceptively worded propositions that appear at face value to be elementary but have serious unintended consequences.  Did the voters agreeing with California Propositions #2 and #12 realize they were effectively voting for a $0.50 to $1.00 per dozen increase in the price of eggs when they were coerced into empathizing with cage-housed chickens?  The so-called “Pacelle-Tax” is an unintended consequence of passage of the two California propositions. The outcome was only possible through the system of ballot initiatives that has effectively distorted the government of our Nation’s most populus state with a population of 39 million and an economy ranking as the 5th largest in the world.

 It is now time to eliminate legislation by voter initiative through constitutional amendments. Unfortunately there are too many vested interests benefiting financially from the status quo to expect meaningful change. A starting point would be to increase the number of valid signatures required to allow a petition to be placed on the ballot and to allow legislatures or Governors the power to deny petitions.