Georgia Officer Shoots Miniature Donkey During Search for Missing Child

A Cedartown, Georgia, police officer shot and killed a miniature donkey named HeeHaw while assisting with a nighttime search for a missing child, according to the Cedartown Police Department and reporting cited by Boing Boing. The officer had been called to help Polk County Police search for the child during the early hours of Sunday morning. At the time HeeHaw was shot, the child had not been located. The child was later found at a church near the pasture where the donkey lived. Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome said in a Facebook video that a department officer had shot and killed a donkey. The officer’s identity has not been disclosed and the department placed the officer on paid administrative leave while the incident is investigated. The Cedartown Police Department referred the animal-shooting investigation to the Georgia Department of Agriculture Law Enforcement Division. The department said it could not provide additional comment while the investigation was underway. Body-camera footage exists, according to Atlanta station 11Alive, but Newsome declined to describe what it shows. HeeHaw’s owner, Hannah Israel of Elsberry Riding and Farm, gave a different account on social media. Israel said officers entered the pasture around 12:45 a.m. without permission or warning while looking for the missing person. She alleged that HeeHaw approached the officers braying, that they believed they were in danger, and that the officer shot him after first attempting to use a Taser. Israel described HeeHaw as a bottle-raised “baby donkey” who had been raised in the house and used in petting zoos. Her account and the circumstances surrounding the shooting have not been resolved by the investigation. The farm initially started a fundraising campaign for anticipated legal costs, but Israel later said she had retained an attorney and ended the campaign early. The department’s social-media pages received angry and mocking reactions from users following news of the shooting. No explanation for the officer’s actions has been publicly provided in the supplied reporting, and authorities have not released the body-camera footage.