Val Hoyle

U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle (D) is blasting an Oregon ballot initiative that would ban hunting and fishing as “insane,” suggesting it would “[make] it a felony sex crime to artificially inseminate a cow.”

On May 26, 2026, Breitbart News noted that Oregon Initiative Petition 28 (IP 28) had unofficially reached the signature threshold to be on the November 2026 ballot, according to KATU.

On February 15, 2026, KOIN reported the petition’s official name as the People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions (PEACE) Act.

The Act “would change the current Oregon animal cruelty laws, which currently protect pets such as dogs and cats, and would expand coverage to wild animals, livestock and animals used in research.” KATU explained that IP 28 “would make it illegal to injure or kill animals and would effectively ban hunting, fishing and the breeding of animals.”

Rep. Hoyle lambasted the way in which signatures were collected for IP 28, saying, “It would make it illegal to kill any animal except in self-defense. Any animal — which kills our commercial fishing industry. It, no lie, makes it a felony sex crime to artificially inseminate a cow. That’s insane. There’s no other word for it. But the signature gatherers are asking people, ‘Do you want to help save animals?’ And people are signing this.”

She added, “It’s not like the food fairy just shows up and waves a magic wand and then puts like meat and fish on the shelves at the Whole Foods. That’s not how that works.”