Shortage of hay leaves Alberta livestock owners desperate for feed this winter

​A shortage of hay in Alberta is putting livestock at risk of neglect this winter​,​​ animal welfare advocates say.

After record-breaking heat stunted the Prairie harvest last fall, Alberta livestock owners have been scrambling over the limited supply of hay. 

As demand rises and prices surge, the Alberta SPCA is now fielding more complaints about starving livestock.

"The hay situation is at crisis levels," said Bev Wilson, founder of 5 Freedoms Ranch Rescue and Rehabilitation Society, an equine rescue in Strathcona County. 

"I don't know how we are going to make it." 

Wilson said her animals will not go hungry, but with her charity now in debt, she has no idea how she will make ends meet.

She used to pay around $50 for a round hay bale. She's now paying more than $200 per bale, increasing her weekly feed costs to $5,000.

Wilson has around 90 horses, donkeys and mules on her property. She takes in surrendered animals, works directly with the City of Edmonton to care for seized livestock. She also outbids meat buyers at auction, saving horses slated for slaughter. 

She has been fundraising, and attempted to apply for drought relief but learned only producers and breeders are eligible. 

The financial challenges come as rescue services are needed most, she said. 

The number of emaciated animals up for auction this winter is concerning, she said. 

"I feel torn," she said. "But what do we do? How can we afford to feed a couple more mouths?"  

The drought last summer on the Canadian Prairies was the worst in decades.

Bone-dry conditions left fields parched and damaged. Some farmers were forced to harvest early, in a bid to salvage what crop they had managed to grow.