Initiative Petition 28 — the deceptively branded animal-rights proposal that would have effectively criminalized hunting, fishing, ranching and a long list of other normal activities — will not appear on Oregon’s November ballot after all.CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTKICKAnd this one came down to the wire.A hunter wearing blaze orange and camouflage stands in a mountainous forest carrying a rifle while observing the landscape.(Getty Images)Supporters of IP28 submitted more than 142,000 signatures, comfortably exceeding the 117,173 required to qualify for the ballot.
But after two rounds of verification, the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office determined that only 104,262 of those signatures were valid.That left the campaign roughly 13,000 signatures short.Good.Because while proponents called IP28 the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions Act — or the warm and fuzzy-sounding "PEACE Act" — the proposal was never simply about prosecuting people who abuse animals.Oregon already has laws for that.IP28 sought to remove the exemptions in Oregon’s animal-cruelty statutes that protect lawful hunting, fishing, trapping, ranching, farming, pest control and accepted animal-husbandry practices.Under the proposal, killing or injuring an animal would have been classified as abuse unless it was necessary to prevent immediate harm to a person or another animal.SPINY LOBSTER MINI SEASON KICKS OFF IN FLORIDA, DRAWING EAGER DIVERS TO THE WATERThat means hunters harvesting deer, anglers keeping fish, ranchers processing cattle, commercial fishermen bringing seafood to shore and farmers controlling pests could all have potentially faced criminal consequences.Two farmers manage cattle in a pen during sunset in a rural landscape.
(Getty Images)The proposal was so extreme that opposing it became one of the few genuinely bipartisan causes left in American politics.Oregon Gov.Tina Kotek, U.S.
Sen.Jeff Merkley, all 37 Democrats in the Oregon House and...