Update On Oregon’s IP13 Ballot Initiative

Initiative Petition 13, a ballot initiative filed for the 2022 Oregon general election, would remove many of the current exemptions from Oregon’s animal cruelty laws against animal abuse, animal neglect, and animal sexual assault.

That feels a little misleading doesn’t it? “Animal abuse, animal neglect, and animal sexual assault,”  -- all right, but let’s get some context.

As it’s written, artificial insemination, which is how we breed cows on our farm, will be defined as a “sexual assault.” We choose AI on our farm as it provides excellent structure for farmer safety, cow safety, farm management, and improved herd genetics.

A W for the win column does include the Attorney General approving a modified title to improve the ultimate transparency of the title, which will hopefully better inform Oregon’s voting population when reviewing the language.

As a reminder, a ballot initiative is a way citizens can propose to create, amend, or repeal a state law or constitutional provision through collecting petition signatures from a certain minimum number of registered voters. In Oregon, for example, a  constitutional initiative must have valid signatures totaling at least 8 percent of the total votes cast for governor at the last election is required, and for a statutory initiative must have valid signatures totaling at least 6 percent of the total votes cast for governor at the last election.

Oregon Farm Bureau Vice President of Public Policy Mary Anne Cooper has done a phenomenal job breaking down specifics of the petition. “Put simply, this petition is designed to criminalize farming, ranching, hunting, trapping, pest control, and killing of animals for any reason.”

Under IP13, actions against an animal for any reason besides “defense against an apparent threat of immediate violence” would be a criminal offense. A criminal offense.

According to Yes On IP13, “By removing exemptions from these laws, animals that were not previously protected from abuse, neglect, and sexual assault would finally receive legal protections. As one might realize, this would impact many industries that currently involve animals. Animals on farms, research labs, exhibitions, and in the wild, would no longer be allowed to be intentionally injured or killed (abused), nor would they be allowed to be forcibly impregnated (sexually assaulted).”

Calling this petition “public enemy number one” may seem extreme, but if IP13 passes in the November election it would be the most dangerous threat to society. Not only is this petition a direct assault on American farmers and ranchers, IP13 would remove choice from how people feed themselves.

Considering the fact that 1 in 4 Oregonians face hunger and the COVID economic crisis causing unseen levels of food insecurity, I’m going to insist we don’t remove an industry dedicated to feeding people from the equation.  

Frankly, IP13 intentionally, knowingly, and recklessly harms Oregonians.