IP28 July 2 2026 Press Release
- 10 hours ago
- 2 min read
Initiative to Protect Animals From Being Killed Submits 142,000 Signatures
Contact: David Michelson
Chief Petitioner
SALEM, OREGON - The Yes On IP28 campaign behind the proposed 2026 ballot initiative to ban the slaughter, hunting, and experimentation of animals in Oregon has made their final submission of signatures, submitting a total of 142,784. The secretary of state will now begin the signature verification process, which they have until August 2nd, 2026 to complete. To qualify for the ballot, the campaign must end up with at least 117,173 valid signatures after verification.
IP28, if passed, would ban the intentional injury, killing, and forced breeding of any nonhuman mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, or fish. The initiative extends the cruelty protections companion animals have to animals statewide, making Oregon a “no-kill or harm sanctuary state” according to the Oregon Farm Bureau.
In response to both of the Oregon gubernatorial candidates—Tina Kotek and Christine Drazan—labeling this an “attack” on Oregonians, the Yes On IP28 campaign released a statement that a citizen-initiated ballot measure couldn't be a “less aggressive, forceful, or hostile way to propose protecting animals from being injured, killed, and forcibly bred.” Ballot initiatives only pass if a majority of Oregonians vote for them.
According to Chief Petitioner, David Michelson, “our initiative is nothing more than an invitation to imagine a world where we show just as much compassion to cows, pigs, chickens, primates, squirrels, mice, deer, elk, and others as we show to our companion animals—all of whom have the same basic needs for sustenance, affection, understanding, and safety.”
Signature collection for this initiative began in July of 2024, after two prior attempts to qualify a similar initiative for the November 2022 and November 2024 ballots collected roughly 2,000 signatures and 40,000 signatures, respectively. The Yes On IP28 Campaign has spent $310k this cycle. Comparatively, the two 2024 petitions that qualified for the ballot—IP17 & IP35—spent $906k and $2.4 million, respectively.
Despite Oregon Democrats going out on a limb to let voters know “they’re just as committed to killing animals as Republicans,” according to Anna Griffin’s recent reporting for The New York Times, the Yes On IP28 campaign still managed to collect over 30,000 signatures in the last three months of the campaign.
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You can download a copy of the full press release below.