Helping Horses During Alberta Floods

The community in Alberta really pulled together this past week to help out their own fellow neighbours, friends, family, strangers and four legged animals. The equine community was very quick to respond to social media outlets asking for all kinds of support for flood victims and their livestock. The Alberta Equestrian Federation’s Facebook post asking for help on Thursday June 20th at 6:39pm was shared 349 times accompanied by 135 comments and offers for assistance with livestock in need. These offers came from all over Alberta and included all types of livestock assistance: everything from transportation to stabling, to pasture and included pet friendly accommodations in people’s homes. The response was overwhelming and we truly saw the horse community in Alberta unite to help their own out.

After the water has begun to subside, the true sense of loss begins. In the horse community, we seem to have had some lucky horse shoes on our side this time. The reports of displaced livestock are minimal and the loss of livestock life, at this stage, is also minimal. We spoke to the Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC) Livestock Alert Line and they had not received a single call requesting help due to flooding. According to Lorna Baird, Executive Director with AFAC, “the alert line only received calls from people looking to offer help, none from people seeking help.”

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