The Alberta SPCA has taken in 675 animals this winter, the majority because of concerns with lack of food. More than 100 animals have been found dead, including 10 horses recently.
Twenty cattle were seized in February by the Alberta SPCA at a property west of Edmonton. The malnourished animals were taken to a care-taking property.
“It’s been a tough couple of years for everybody,” said Dan Kobe, communications manager at the Alberta SPCA.
“Unfortunately not feeding your animal is not acceptable, even if you’re having trouble finding feed or you can’t afford it. If that is a situation that an animal owner is in, then they have to do an evaluation of the herd and reduce the number of animals that they have so they do have enough feed for them.”
Kobe said seven horses were surrendered northeast of Edmonton in February by owners who didn’t have enough food. They are now in the care of two rescue groups.
Ten horses were found dead last month at a property near Bonnyville.
Last week the owner was charged with causing animals to be in distress, failure to provide adequate food or water, and failure to provide adequate care to an animal that is wounded or ill.
“It’s unfortunate that quite a number of the animals that we go to see don’t make it,” Kobe said.
Kobe said it will be mid-May before livestock owners will be able to rely on pasture land for feed.
“We encourage everyone to do a quick check with their animals, do the math and count the number of animals. Figure out how many hay bales you need and if you don’t have enough to get you to mid-May, then you either have to go find hay and pay the cost or reduce the number of animals in your care,” Kobe said.
“Many producers culled some of their breeding cows. They just couldn’t afford to keep them all,” said Jason Hale.
The vice chair of Alberta Beef Producers also ranches with his family near Bassano. He said recovery from this dire situation will depend on the rainfall Alberta gets this spring and summer.
“I know down here, you count to see how many bales you have left and how long you can go. When you run out of hay, I don’t think you’re going to be able to find it,” Hale said.
The horses at Free Spirit Sanctuary northwest of Cochrane are getting a second chance on life.
Owner Sandie Hucal cares for 17 horses that likely wouldn’t be around had she not accepted them.
But with the dramatic increase in the the price of hay, Hucal made the difficult decision to not take in any more rescues.
“We just simply can’t afford to take in any more. We are pretty close to full.
“We just wouldn’t be able to afford the extra expense with the cost of hay now. Unfortunately the drought had a negative impact on horses because they are expensive animals to keep and when hay goes up that high, a lot of them get sent to auction,” Hucal said.
Kobe said there have been far more cattle surrendered and seized than horses this winter.
“Fortunately, we haven’t had that many horses come into our care this year,” Kobe said.
“We are lucky that way because it can be tough to find enough people willing to take on horses, especially if the horses are high needs and haven’t been handled.”