A federal judge is nudging the National Park Service to better manage the feral horses of Cumberland Island even as she has rejected a lawsuit that challenged how the horses are handled.
While dismissing the complaint brought by the Georgia Equine Rescue League, the Georgia Horse Council and those that the lawsuit identified as the “Horses of Cumberland Island,” U.S. District Judge Sarah Geraghty put a spotlight on the animals’ apparently dire living conditions.
“No one wishes to see animals suffer, and Plaintiffs have plausibly argued that the NPS should take steps to protect and manage Cumberland Island’s feral horse population, not only for the well-being of the horses, but also to preserve the island’s ecosystem and its endangered species,” Geraghty wrote.
A Biden administration nominee who formerly served as senior counsel to the Southern Center for Human Rights, Geraghty added that “while this case must be dismissed, the Court hopes that the important issues Plaintiffs have raised here might spur the NPS or other agencies to act.”
