A Georgia police officer shot a 1-year-old petting-zoo donkey dead in its own pasture while helping search for a missing child, then wrote that the bottle-raised animal charged at the team after a Taser failed.
The child was found safe at a church near Elsberry Riding and Farm in Polk County. HeeHaw, the donkey killed during the early Sunday search, did not survive.
Cedartown Police Department officer Trenton Garner fired one round from his department-issued Glock 17, according to his written report.
He has since been placed on paid administrative leave, while the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Law Enforcement division conducts an independent investigation.
Police Chief Jamie Newsome told 11Alive that body-camera footage exists and that he has watched it.
Israel, the farm’s owner, said the officers had no permission to enter the pasture and gave no warning before encountering HeeHaw.
She has hired a lawyer and started a GoFundMe campaign for legal fees that had raised nearly $100,000, including a $10,000 donation from an account named “Justice For HeeHaw Solana.”
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“He was a loved member of our family and did many petting zoos and made many people smile,” the fundraiser states.
Israel described HeeHaw as a familiar presence around people. He had been bottle-raised, appeared at local petting zoos and slept in her bed for the first three months of his life.
A photograph taken after the shooting showed Israel crying beside the donkey while he lay on the ground with his eyes open, according to 11Alive.
“He would normally be standing right over there talking while I’m talking because he thought he could talk like a person could talk,” Israel told the station.
A Facebook video Israel posted Friday, filmed three days before HeeHaw’s death, showed him coming from the fields, running toward her and rubbing his head against her. She greeted him in the video by saying, “Good morning, baby.”
On Facebook after the shooting, Israel wrote that HeeHaw’s reaction to strangers had been misread.
“He never knew a stranger,” she wrote. “And [he] was shot and killed in his OWN pasture for doing what donkeys do. … Alerting to a stranger.”
“He was my son,” Israel added.
Garner’s account offers a different description of the encounter. He wrote that he, a K-9 handler and a bloodhound team followed footprints into the petting zoo while assisting the child search.
The group was walking beside a fence when horses in the pasture ran away, Garner wrote. K-9 Handler Thomasson then spotted a donkey on a hill and told the others it had started to charge.
Garner wrote that Thomasson aimed a Taser at HeeHaw, but the device did not stop him. He then took out his handgun.
“This in fact did not deter the donkey, so I removed my department-issued Glock 17 from its holster and pointed it at the donkey,” Garner wrote. “I then fired a single round striking the donkey.”
HeeHaw went uphill after being shot and collapsed, according to the report.
Garner wrote that he informed police about the shooting, after which officers spoke with Israel. He recorded that Israel told them HeeHaw would not act aggressively toward people and would not try to bite them.
Israel’s Facebook post said the officers gave her a different explanation. She wrote that they told her HeeHaw ran toward them braying, that they believed they were in danger and that they shot him after attempting to use the Taser.
“They claimed he ran up to them braying and they thought they were in danger and shot and killed him after trying to taze him,” Israel wrote.
Newsome confirmed that a Cedartown officer killed a donkey during the search and said he understood the grief caused by the shooting.
“During that search, it is with heavy heart that I report a Cedartown police officer shot and killed a donkey that was in its own pasture,” Newsome said in a Facebook video. “I cannot imagine the grief and frustration that the tragic loss of HeeHaw has caused.”
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies did not take part in the encounter. Its statement identified the Polk County Police Department and Cedartown Police Department as the agencies conducting the search.
“We extend our sincere condolences to the family and everyone affected by this unfortunate incident,” the sheriff’s office said. “We understand the concern and sadness surrounding what occurred.”
Newsome asked for time for the outside investigation to finish.
“I ask everyone to join us in prayer for everyone who has been impacted by this tragic event, but give time for the investigation to be completed,” he said.
