Back in 1920’s the famous Carnegie family, then-wintering on Cumberland Island off of Georgia’s southeastern coast, brought over a train car full of wild mustangs to live on the island around their towering, 59-room mansion Dungeness. Just a decade later, coinciding with the Great Depression, the train-baron family left the island for good and Dugeness eventually burned to the ground, leaving only ruins behind.
But the horses remained, scratching and clawing (hoofing?) a living to this day on the 56 square mile island, the herd of 140-170 animals a popular sight for tourists. But horses are not native to Georgia’s barrier islands, (nor North America at all for that matter) and Cumberland’s salt marshes and scrub forests are not an ideal habitat for them. Conservationists say they damage the island and hurt its native species by foraging in the marshes and sand dunes, while animal rights activists say they are malnourished and living in inhumane conditions, without sufficient food or water.
Those complaints have come to a head as part of a lawsuit – with the horses themselves as plaintiffs – filed against the state of Georgia, calling for the animals to be cared for humanely until such time as they can be removed and moved to a more appropriate environment. The horses, (represented by Athens-based Attorney Hal Wright) are joined in the suit by nonprofits Georgia Equine Rescue League and the Georgia Horse Council, as well as acclaimed naturalist Carol Ruckdeschel, one of the very few residents of Cumberland Island.
The suit alleges that the Defendants – including Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Mark Williams, and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper – “have permitted less-than-humane conditions to be imposed on the Island’s feral horses. For over a quarter century, the Defendants have known of the destructive impacts to the island’s resources caused by feral horses.”
The horse advocates argue that the horses live short, brutal lives on the island with mares constantly pregnant or nursing, often malnourished and sickly, in conditions that amount to animal cruelty – illegal under Georgia law, citing the state’s Humane Care for Equines Act and the Georgia Equine Act. The life expectancy of horses on Cumberland is only eight or nine years, whereas domestic horses average nearly 25 years.
They also point to a 2018 National Park Service Report that found that Cumberland’s feral horse herd “consumes between 200 to 400 tons of vegetation each year and removes up to 98% of vegetation in areas they frequent.” Grazing is speculated to increase the vulnerability of the islands sand dunes, leading to heightened erosion, already a major issue on Georgia’s barrier islands.
Federal officials have 60 days to respond to the suit, while Georgia officials have 21. The horses declined to comment.
