You’ve seen the commercials. If you have social media, you’ve seen animal rights goons and PETA ads and tweets scolding Americans for eating meat, rolling an egg at Easter, wearing leather, or just owning pets. PETA reminds you that animals are not “owned.” That is “speciesism." Pets aren’t pets, they are your companions. Or something. I think. It’s hard to keep up.

We have no official stance on abortion. https://t.co/pUqfD8HDb4

— PETA (@peta) June 14, 2016

The animal rights goons are relentless. 

Most people laugh and ignore their nonsense. We used to laugh at the alphabet soup goons, then they bullied and cajoled lawmakers, and in some states, they’ve managed to criminalize language. Animal rights goons predate the alphabet soup goons, so they have some catching up. In Oregon, they have tried to outlaw or restrict gun ownership. The Beaver State (barely) passed Measure 14—which banned large-capacity magazines—last November. A federal judge in Portland ignored facts, accepted testimony that she liked, and found the measure constitutional. I wrote:

On July 14th, U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut ruled after hearing evidence during a week-long trial that Measure 114 was constitutional. The ruling is 112 pages long. The court heard a lot of “facts” and expert testimony. What the court heard during a bench trial was “weighed” by the court. Most important is what the judge found compelling and what she found to be of less weight or of no weight.

 In Oregon, the “drip, drip drip” of rights leaking away, headed down the drain, is obvious. 

The vast majority of people voting for Measure 14 reside in the state's few big cities. In one rural county far outside Portland’s echo chamber, 85 percent of voters rejected the measure. No matter; until the Supreme Court reverses Judge Immergut’s ruling, Oregon demands you get a permit to own a gun - and forget magazines over 10 rounds. Drip, drip, drip. 

Now, Animal Rights Goons see an opening. There’s a petition circulating to put a measure on the ballot. It is called IP3. A similar measure was defeated two years ago, but now the animal rights nuts are at it again. 

According to the Petition advocates, IP3 would be:

“...the first ballot initiative in history that would criminalize the killing and breeding of animals. We want to protect an animal’s universal right to life, and we believe that the ballot initiative process is an effective, nonviolent, and democratic strategy for social change.”

 What do the goons really want? 

They want to criminalize animal husbandry. They want to criminalize a host of activities practiced for thousands of years. Yes, indeed—they want to ban hunting. All of it. 

They intend to criminalize the "artificial insemination" of farm animals. The goons equate the practice, which has been used for centuries, with animal rape. Farmers would be committing sexual assault on an animal if they practice artificial insemination. 

And, the petition, if it became a measure and was passed into law, Oregon would remove “intentional” from the criminal code regarding animal “cruelty,” thereby criminalizing unintentional harm to domestic animals and wildlife. The implication is enormous and dire. Farms would have animals that could not be harvested. Touch that animal intended for food, and you’re an instant criminal. Chickens, cows – any animal produced for food. Don’t touch. If a sheep herder accidentally hurt a sheep while removing wool, that farmer could be a criminal. Taken literally (and the goons do), just cutting the wool off would be a crime. Eggs in the morning? Nope, that’s cruel too. 

Don’t shoot the squirrel ruining your garden. It has a right to life. Rats chewing on your tomatoes? Don’t kill – maybe just reason with them. Don't scold your dog. SWAT might show up. 

I have relatives living in Oregon, and they are hunters. At the end of September, my son is traveling to Oregon to hunt elk… with a bow and arrows. That, and the rest of the hunting industry, would be criminalized. 

Nuts? Yeah.

 In Oregon, if the crazies prevail, pretty soon the only things you can eat will be nuts and bugs.