Willamette Valley livestock producers, farmers and hunting outfitters won't face a sweeping new animal-cruelty law this fall.

The Oregon Secretary of State's Elections Division confirmed July 25 that Initiative Petition 28 failed to collect enough valid signatures to appear on the November 3 ballot.

Backers of the measure, known as the PEACE Act, submitted 142,784 signatures. After two rounds of statistical sampling, state elections staff determined only 104,262 matched voter records.

That left the petition roughly 13,000 short of the 117,173 valid signatures required under Oregon law.

Had it qualified, IP 28 would have stripped long-standing exemptions from Oregon's animal cruelty statutes. Hunting, fishing, trapping, livestock production, pest control, animal research, rodeos and commercial poultry operations all would have lost their legal protections.

Killing an animal would have counted as abuse unless done to prevent immediate harm to a person or another animal.

For the Salem area, the stakes were direct. The Willamette Valley's livestock and poultry operations rely on exemptions IP 28 targeted, and crop producers, including hops, nursery and Christmas tree farms, could have lost pest-control protections.

Hunting- and fishing-related businesses in Marion County faced potential criminal liability for routine activities.

"The failure of IP 28 to make November's ballot is a major win for not only Oregon sportsmen and women, but our farmers, ranchers, and outdoor enthusiasts," Sen. David Brock Smith, co-chair of the Oregon Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, said in a July 24 statement. "Make no mistake however, radical policies like this will be back and we must stand against them."

Lauren Kuenzi, government affairs director at the Oregon Farm Bureau, called the result a relief for family farms and said the measure would have criminalized routine agricultural practices.

Gov. Tina Kotek said in a July 24 statement that she was "relieved" the initiative did not make the ballot.

The petition drive was the third attempt by Portland-based vegan advocates, led by chief petitioner David Michelson, to place a version of the measure before voters.

This cycle's campaign raised more than $300,000 in contributions and loans, with about 75 percent of signatures gathered by paid collectors.

Major donors included $35,000 from a financial services consultant in Saint Petersburg, Russia; $30,000 from the Craigslist Charitable Fund; $25,000 from early Bitcoin investor Owen Gunden; and $20,000 from PETA, according to state campaign finance records.

IP 28 drew bipartisan opposition. All 37 Oregon House Democrats, U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, the Oregon Farm Bureau, the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association, the Oregon Hunters Association and Oregon's federally recognized tribes all publicly opposed it.

Sen. Brock Smith and co-chair Sen. Anthony Broadman said the Sportsmen's Caucus will continue opposing future versions of the proposal.

None of the other 88 citizen initiatives proposed this cycle submitted enough signatures either. The November 3 general election will be the first in decades without a citizen-led initiative on Oregon's ballot.