Letter: Animal-protection initiative goes too far

Published 5:33 pm Friday, February 20, 2026

“How I do admire a man who can sit down and whale away with a pen just the same as if it was fishing — or something else as full of pleasure and as void of labor.” — Mark Twain

A bill in Oregon, known as Initiative Petition 28, aims to all but ban hunting, fishing and ranching by changing animal cruelty laws to prohibit the injury or killing of animals. Supporters of the measure say the campaign has over 100,000 signatures, looking to overturn thousands of years of human activity. I just can’t believe that many Oregonians identify as battered animals.

And what of the predatory acts of animals on animals? Will my cats be considered felons if they take out an unsuspecting robin or mouse? Will I be blamed if a game warden witnesses the crime? I can just envision talking with a fellow inmate on why I’m in the slammer, “I got five to 10 because my stupid cat poached a rat.”

Will sea lions be eliminated for emptying the Columbia of salmon and steelhead? Will cougars be jailed for devouring deer? What about birds, and their incessant slaughter of innocent worms?

Oregon is the first state of a bottle recycling bill, sanctuary state status, mail-in balloting and legalized hard-core drugs. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my home state over my 65 years of residency, but this idea of Oregonians making animals superior to humans makes me wonder if these loons have bigger fish to fry.

MATT JANES

Jeffers Gardens