Oregon's Animal Measure Pt 2
I’m Bob Larson. Signatures are being gathered in Oregon for a ballot measure that would effectively make hunting, fishing, pest control, and raising livestock illegal.But, Pam Lewison, with the “Washington” Policy Center, wants people in this state to be aware of what’s happening across the border …
LEWISON … “It’s funny, because when I mentioned it as something that I wanted to write about, initially, my boss was like, but why, it’s not a Washington topic? And, I sort of glibly, I said, well it’s not a Washington topic yet.”
Under IP-13, Lewison says things like artificial insemination and other veterinary services would also be illegal …
LEWISON … “I had a rancher friend of mine, through the grapevine, said this can’t be true, this can’t be a real piece of legislation. And, I said no, this is a real thing. This is something that is happening. And, they were flabbergasted.”
But instead of talking about things like this, Lewison says we in the farming community usually just assume no one would be crazy enough to support it …
LEWISON … “Addressing it head on and engaging with it and saying, these are the things that make this so silly and so not okay that you shouldn’t support it, instead of saying, nobody supports this.”
Initiative organizers need to collect 112,000 valid signatures by July to get the issue on next November’s ballot.