Horses in Sonoma County, a major equestrian center, have a lot of important friends. Among those who showed up at a high-spirited and delicious benefit dinner Sunday afternoon in Sebastopol were district attorney-elect Jill Ravitch and County Supervisor Efren Carrillo.

The strong turnout at the dinner should serve as a warning to anyone who’s inclined to mistreat or neglect horses hereabouts: People of action are watching and are ready to take action to assure that the poor treatment ends.

The benefit at the Sebastopol Veterans Memorial Building was hosted by CHANGE, a three-year-old organization committed to providing care for mistreated horses and helping authorities bringing the justice the people guilty of the abuse, neglect or abandoment of the animals.

CHANGE  (www. sonomachangeprogram.com) is providing foster care and other essential, livesaving services to mistreated horses, and it needs help. If you’re a horse lover, you might check out the outfit that put on a heck of a nice dinner in Sebastopol on Sunday, and consider making a donation or helping in some other way to provide a good, safe place for a horse in need of one.