Okanogan County volunteers collecting hay for animals going hungry after fires

It’s not just people who are in need amidst the Cold Springs, Pearl Hill, and Palmer Fires — thousands of cattle in Okanogan County have lost their supply of hay.

When structures like homes and barns burn in wildfires, food supply that was supposed to last for months often burns with them.

To keep the grazing animals from going hungry, volunteers are banding together to gather bales of hay for livestock and deliver them to farms and ranches throughout the Okanogan region.

Tom Short, board president of Cashmere-based dog rescue OkanDogs, is leading the community effort; he estimates that they’ve got between 8,000 and 10,000 hay bales so far.

Bridgeport residents collecting donations to help those impacted by Pearl Hill Fire

“Some of the owners [of farms] have lost their homes — a huge amount of them lost their hay and maybe their winter hay, even,” he said. “So we see ourselves as an initial response team.”

He said that in the 2015 wildfires, nearly 4,000 grazing animals were lost. They are committed to making sure this does not happen again.

But it’s no small feat.

“We figure it takes 25 pounds per day per cow, and we’re trying to do a two-week supply,” Short said. “So if you do the math on that, it quickly turns into some pretty big numbers.”

If there are enough volunteers and donations, OkanDogs plans to carry through with the effort past the two-week mark, since the need will still be there. Short said they are the main team aiding the livestock right now, along with the help of Okanogan County commissioners.

“The amount of hay that we’re able to provide through the donations we have received is immense,” Short said. “We are by far the biggest player in donating hay to the animals up there … as far as I know, we’re the only 501(c)(3) program that is doing anything like this up there.”

Volunteers are also needed to bring and help put up fencing. In some areas, fences have burned, and animals are now wandering away from their enclosures.

To find out how you can donate or volunteer on the ground, visit OkanDogs’ Facebook page or email them at okandogs@gmail.com.

“The response from the public has just been enormous — the donations not only of money to us, but also people calling to give hay, driving over fencing supplies, driving over grain, food. It’s just heartening,” Short said. “As one of our volunteers put it, ‘I’ve seen grown men cry as they deliver the hay and keep those animals alive.'”

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