Georgia police officer put on leave after family’s pet donkey killed during search

Donkey named HeeHaw was shot and killed as authorities reportedly looked on property in search of a missing person

A police officer in the US state of Georgia was placed on leave after a family’s pet baby donkey was shot and killed during an early-morning search on their property.

The animal’s owner, Hannah Israel, said officers were at her pasture without notification or permission at about 12.45am on Sunday, reportedly looking for a missing person when they encountered the small male donkey named HeeHaw.

According to a Facebook post by Israel, HeeHaw emerged braying at the presence of strangers at Elsberry farm in Rockmart – and was shot dead by an officer who claimed he felt under threat.

Jamie Newsome, the Cedartown, Georgia, police department chief, told local media that an officer had been placed on leave and that an inquiry was under way. But a social media backlash by Monday morning was growing over the absence of any official statement or confirmation from the city or police department.

Meanwhile, an online fundraising appeal launched by Israel to support legal action over HeeHaw’s killing quickly surpassed $35,000.

“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 in her Facebook post, which featured a photograph of her kneeling by the fallen donkey.

“HeeHaw was raised in the house and did petting zoos [and] never knew a stranger. 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.

The only official statement as of Monday was from the Polk county, Georgia , sheriff’s office, which said its officers were not involved. But the agency said that law enforcement personnel from the separate police departments of Polk county and Cedartown were.

“We extend our sincere condolences to the family and everyone affected by this unfortunate incident,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “We understand the concern and sadness surrounding what occurred.”

The Polk county police department, Cedartown’s municipal government and its police department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In her post, Israel said HeeHaw was bottle-raised and maintained he was killed in his own pasture by “trespassing” cops.

Coosa Valley News reported in an online article that Newsome said members of his department’s command staff had opened an investigation into the shooting – and that the officer involved, who was not identified, had been placed on administrative leave while the investigation into the case progressed.