Key Takeaways
- Farm owner Hannah Israel says officers entered her Rockmart, Georgia, pasture without permission while searching for a missing child and fatally shot her bottle-raised baby donkey, HeeHaw.
- Officers reportedly tried to Taser HeeHaw before shooting him, claiming the petting-zoo donkey charged while braying and made them fear for their safety.
- Cedartown police placed the unidentified officer on administrative leave and opened an investigation as Israel hired an attorney, considered a civil lawsuit, and raised money for legal fees.
A Georgia farm owner is demanding answers after police officers allegedly entered her property in the middle of the night and shot her baby donkey dead inside its own pasture.
According to TMZ, officers from the Cedartown Police Department and the Polk County Police Department arrived at Elsberry Riding and Farm in Rockmart, Georgia, at around 12:45 A.M. Sunday (August 30) while searching for a missing child.
Farm owner Hannah Israel claimed the officers entered her pasture without her permission or any prior warning. Inside the pasture, officers encountered HeeHaw, a bottle-raised baby donkey who had grown up inside Israel's home and regularly appeared at petting zoos on the property. Officers reportedly attempted to use a Taser on him before one fired a fatal shot. The officers later told Israel that HeeHaw had charged toward them while braying and they believed they were in danger.
"HeeHaw was raised in the house and did petting zoos and never knew a stranger," Israel wrote in a Facebook post that included a photograph of her crouching down beside the donkey's body. "And was shot and killed in his own pasture for doing what donkeys do. Alerting to a stranger. There is no way this is legal. We are heartbroken. He was my son."
Israel's family spent up to 20 minutes searching for HeeHaw's body because officers did not direct them to his location, per Fox 5 Atlanta.
Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome confirmed that command staff opened an investigation into the shooting. The City of Cedartown released a statement saying the officer involved had been placed on administrative leave, citing the active investigation as the reason for withholding further details. The officer has not been publicly identified.
The Polk County Sheriff's Office clarified that its deputies played no role in the incident, noting the involved agencies were the Cedartown Police Department and the Polk County Police Department. In a statement, the Sheriff's Office told The Guardian it extends "sincere condolences to the family and everyone affected by this unfortunate incident."
Israel has hired an attorney and is weighing up a civil lawsuit. She also launched a GoFundMe with a $170,000 goal for legal fees, which had already raised over $90,000 as of Sunday. Any funds beyond legal costs will go toward the care and feed of her remaining animals. You can donate here.
