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The director of a farm animal sanctuary is asking Albertans to dig deep and donate funds to help with a hay shortage threatening to leave animals hungry this winter.

Dr. Sandie Hucal runs the Free Spirit Sanctuary in Cochrane, where staff have rescued and rehabilitated dozens of horses, cows, sheep, goats and other barnyard creatures.

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Hucal said the sanctuary’s animals are rescued from “slaughter and neglect.” Free Spirit Sanctuary is also an advocate for Alberta’s wild horses, and Hucal said six “wildies” live on the property.

The animals rely on hay to keep fed through the winter. But Hucal said a dry summer, a cancelled deal to buy hay bales and a provincewide shortage have led to a need for feed.

“It basically has been an accumulation of events,” Hucal said. “The price of hay this year is just crazy. In 12 years of doing this, the prices have never been remotely this high.”

Photo by Leah Hennel / Postmedia

“We had gotten, for this year, a pretty reasonable deal,” Hucal said of what she thought was an agreement to buy 80 bales of hay. When the seller informed her the supply had already been sold, Free Spirit Sanctuary went into emergency mode.