Cop sued for shooting family’s beloved donkey ‘HeeHaw’ to death on their Georgia farm
A Georgia property owner is suing a Cedartown police officer who fatally shot her family’s donkey during a search operation late last month.
Hannah Israel filed the civil rights complaint on September 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia’s Rome Division, naming Officer Trenton Garner individually. Municipal agencies and the Cedartown Police Department are excluded from the litigation.
The filing stems from an incident on August 29, when police arrived at the Rockmart property while looking for a missing 12-year-old child. According to the court documents seen by CBS News, officers entered the fenced pasture without obtaining consent or securing a search warrant, and without notifying the owner prior to entry.
Described in the complaint as a young and docile animal that presented no danger, the donkey — named HeeHaw — was shot and killed by Garner. Israel contends the use of lethal force was unjustified and violated constitutional protections against unreasonable property seizure and unlawful search.
The official incident report filed by Garner offers a different perspective of the encounter. According to the officer, the animal charged at personnel and failed to retreat even after a K-9 handler deployed an electrical arc from a Taser to deter it.
Garner stated he discharged his firearm once to defend the handler and tracking team members before the animal retreated uphill and died.
Following the shooting, Israel stated that officers departed the scene without disclosing the animal’s location. A police supervisor then contacted her to report that the donkey had been dispatched, requiring her and a minor to search the property across multiple acres in the dark to find him.
The legal action outlines three primary federal violations: unlawful search, unconstitutional seizure, and property deprivation without due process. Seeking a jury trial, the plaintiff is asking for compensatory damages, punitive awards, legal fees, and court costs.
The lawsuit outlines three primary federal violations involving unlawful search, unconstitutional seizure and property deprivation without due process. Seeking a jury trial, the plaintiff is asking for compensatory damages, punitive awards, legal fees and court costs.
Israel has since launched a GoFundMe campaign to support animal care on the farm and establish a foundation in the animal’s memory, stating that all proceeds would go toward farm needs rather than personal expenses. By Tuesday, the campaign had surpassed its initial goal of $30,000, raising more than $159,000 from more than 2,200 individual donations.
Garner remains on administrative leave pending an independent inquiry by the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Law Enforcement Division. Authorities confirmed that the missing child who prompted the search was eventually located unharmed.
