Sold to unsuspecting voters as an animal-cruelty initiative, this measure garnered enough signatures to make it onto the November ballot in Oregon but failed in the signature validation process. Regardless, this attempt will not be the last in Oregon or other states. What Oregonians would have actually been voting on is to eliminate the state’s food production - ranching, farming, and animal husbandry- while also making hunting, fishing, wildlife conservation, and pest control illegal. In this episode of Sheep Fever, we sit down with Amy Patrick, a policy and legislative lobbyist who has spent the past five years on the frontlines of this latest attempt to rewrite how animals and wildlife are valued and utilized by people.  There is a lot to unpack: how an initiative like this could get this far, what’s the endgame, why Oregon has become a testing ground for such radical ideas, and what it could mean, if passed, for sportsmen, ranchers, conservationists, and rural communities, not to mention food at the grocery store, and mice in your house. Even if you do not live in Oregon, pay attention—your state could be next.

Tags: Advocacy