The Georgia Equine Rescue League, Georgia Horse Council, Southeast Director for the Center for Biological Diversity, a resident of Cumberland Island, and the Cumberland Island horses themselves sued the Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS), and two Georgia state agencies in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The parties allege that federal and state authorities have allowed the horses to live in less-than-humane conditions and to destroy vegetation, shorebird nests, and the eggs of endangered loggerhead sea turtles. The organizations seek declaratory judgment and an injunction requiring the NPS and state authorities to provide sufficient care to the horses and then permanently remove them from Cumberland Island.
[To accompany Case Law Update "Environmental Groups Sue Federal and State Authorities over Treatment of Cumberland Island Feral Horses” from Brooks Animal Law Digest Issue No. 185]