Georgia officer explains why he shot beloved donkey HeeHaw during search for missing girl

A newly released police report provides the first detailed account from the Cedartown officer who shot and killed HeeHaw, a bottle-raised donkey, while helping search for a missing 12-year-old girl in Polk County.

Officer Trenton Garner wrote that he fired one shot after the donkey charged toward officers and an attempt to scare it away with a Taser did not work, according to the Cedartown Police Department incident report. Garner has been placed on administrative leave while the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Law Enforcement Division conducts an outside investigation.

The report says Garner was sent to a home on Coaling Road early Sunday to assist the Polk County Police Department with the search. The girl had been missing for about two hours.

Garner joined a Polk County K-9 handler and a Haralson County bloodhound team as they followed a trail through the woods and into a pasture. Officers found footprints along the route, while a Rockmart Fire Department drone team helped search from above.

As the officers followed a fence line, horses in the pasture became frightened and ran away, Garner wrote. The officers then saw HeeHaw on the side of a hill.

"The donkey then began to charge at us," Garner wrote.

According to the report, the Haralson County bloodhound team moved away as the donkey approached. The Polk County K-9 handler removed his Taser and activated its electrical arc in an attempt to discourage the animal, but Garner said the donkey continued toward them.

Garner then pulled his department-issued handgun and fired once, striking HeeHaw. The donkey turned, moved back up the hill and collapsed, the report says.

Garner notified a supervisor and told dispatchers that he had shot the donkey to prevent injuries to the K-9 handler and bloodhound team. Rockmart firefighters operating the drone told officers they witnessed the encounter through its camera, according to the report.

The missing girl was later found safe farther down Grady Road, in the direction the bloodhound team had been tracking.

HeeHaw's owner, Hannah Israel, told officers the donkey was worth about $6,000 because she had bottle-fed him since he was young. She said he had never acted aggressively or tried to bite anyone.

In a statement posted by Elsberry Riding and Farm, Israel said she remains "heartbroken and traumatized" by HeeHaw's death and is seeking answers and accountability.

Israel also rejected allegations circulating online that she mistreats her animals. An attorney representing her sent a cease-and-desist notice demanding that accusations of animal abuse and neglect be removed and retracted within 10 days. The letter threatens possible legal action if the recipient does not comply. 

Israel said she does not condone threats or harassment directed at law enforcement, the missing girl's family or anyone else.

"We can seek accountability without hatred," she wrote.