A horse rescue agency that operates in North Carolina and two other states has taken in almost double the number of abused and neglected horses it usually accepts each year, and more than half came from North Carolina.

Workers with the U.S. Equine Rescue League largely blame the dramatic price increase for hay, which is in short supply across the drought-parched Southeast. The record dry conditions in North Carolina have wiped out hay crops and affected pasture land that horses would normally graze through November.

The nonprofit organization normally takes in about 100 horses each year, but the agency now has 170 horses, including 90 from North Carolina, said Jennifer Malpass, director of the league’s Triangle chapter. She said hay prices have doubled in some areas.

Malpass said her chapter usually receives about 300 bales of donated hay before winter, often from large horse operations. But donations were down two-thirds this year, she said, and volunteer rescue workers have used their own money to help