Cops in Polk County, Georgia, Fatally Shoot Petting Zoo Donkey

The donkey's owner says officers wandered onto her property without permission and shot the small donkey because they felt threatened.

Police officers in Polk County, Georgia, shot and killed a small pet donkey on Sunday. Now the animal's distraught owner is vowing legal action, and one officer has reportedly been placed on leave.

Elsberry Riding and Farm, a business in Rockmart, Georgia, that offers pony rides and petting zoos, wrote in a Facebook post Sunday that police officers entered the property early Sunday morning, where they encountered the farm's donkey, HeeHaw.

At 12:45am cops entered my pasture searching for a missing person WITHOUT permission or warning and shot and killed my bottle raised BABY donkey.

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.

HeeHaw was raised in the house and did petting zoos he 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! I will be taking legal action.

Local news outlet Fox 5 Atlanta reports that Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome said the department has launched an investigation into the shooting and placed an unidentified officer on administrative leave. None of the officers involved have been named.

Hannah Israel, HeeHaw's owner, has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money to hire a lawyer so she can pursue legal action over the incident.

Reason has covered stories of police officers needlessly shooting dogs for years, an unfortunately common phenomenon that has led to huge lawsuit payouts and viral news stories. Officers are rarely trained how to read dog behavior or handle aggressive dogs with non-lethal methods. But shooting a pet donkey is a new one, even to our jaded eyes.

The Polk County Police Department and Cedartown Police Departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

@notsure__4

HeeHaw needs justice!! His life was cut so so short. If you can please go to our Facebook page (Elsberryfarm) and share heehaws post it would mean ALOT! We are taking legal action now! And he will get his justice! #fypシ゚viral #justiceforheehaw #Blowthisup #minidonkey #plssupport

♬ original sound - solo.mp3 - solo.mp3

Comments

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

They claimed he ran up to them

The old Uncle Jimbo defense.

[The Angry Hippopotamus]

"They're coming right at us!"

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

What an ass.

[Spiritus Mundi]

The system will protect the cop.

Find his kids and 'feel like you are in danger' whem they run up to you.

[mad.casual]

You know what the gas chamber smells like? Pine oil.

[LIBtranslator]

With any luck, licensed Georgia deer hunters will soon mistake those same brutes for antlered jackasses, tie them to their fenders and drive them home somehow. At least Reason pipes up in defense of animal rights too.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Tom Lehrer was way ahead of his time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQyoSLOlglw

[Eeyore]

Would need to get all the way through cleaning and quartering without noticing. "Bubba this one doesn't look healthy"

[LIBtranslator]

Surely the usual gang of Jesus Caucus girl-bulliers will show up to bray for the brave offissahs.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Why? Did the donkey identify as a girl?

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Piece of cake for the open fields doctrine.

cops entered my pasture searching for a missing person WITHOUT permission or warning

From Hester v. United States, 1924; because the phrase "open fields" is not listed among the Fourth Amendment's "persons, houses, papers, and effects", no warrant is required to trespass or search the open fields around a house. I don't know how it applies to seizure, as in shooting a pet, but the cops did not need a warrant to be on the property.

Just another constitutional amendment by reinterpretation instead of Article V. There are hundreds, thousands probably.

[Social Justice is neither]

If you're going to shoot donkeys at least make then the DSA variety.

[Nelson]

While MAGA would say that’s a call to assassination (or perhaps not, since it’s Democrats you’re joking about), I think it was pretty funny. But I’m not thin-skinned and angry, like MAGA.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Lol. Everything comes back to maga, nelson.

Everything.

[bobby oshea]

Haven't you seen enough blood for one night? Hell, Alice, it's not like they was tramps, or loafers, or bad men. Just two hard-working boys that was foolish. If they was given over to wickedness in a regular way...

[MWAocdoc]

The cops remain unforgiven in my book.

[Jesse fantasizes about having a 3some with Dave Smith and Maddow]

America’s great isn’t it? Except for the south.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

And Portland. My god, what a shithole.

[Jesse fantasizes about having a 3some with Dave Smith and Maddow]

Portland’s better than whatever rural Washington shithole you call home.

[Bill Poser]

Its amazing how many of these highly trained warrior cops are wusses who are scared to death of innocuous animals.

[MWAocdoc]

It's also amazing how many of these highly trained warrior cops violate peoples' rights intentionally or unintentially all the time. All they had to do was knock on the owner's door and ask for permission to look for whomever they were pretending to look for. She could have secured her pet and allowed them to search if she was of a mind to let them.

[Nelson]

To be fair, cops frequently shoot innocent people as well.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

How can we know if they are innocent without a trial?

[Liberty_Belle]

You are automatically innocent before a trial, they have to prove you guilty.

[MWAocdoc]

Yes, that's fair ...

[See.More]

[...] They claimed he ran up to them braying and they thought they were in danger[...]

Then they're too fucking pussy to wear a badge!

[Eeyore]

Someday a cop will shoot a bunny that bounces at them. On that day they will dethrone this cop as biggest pussy.

[Don't look at me! ( Is the war over yet?)]

Like the time the Easter bunny startled Biden?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ixK5fZ7Ko

[Eeyore]

Bad memories from one of Epstein's furry parties?

[See.More]

Someday a cop will shoot a bunny that bounces at them[...]

To be fair, killer bunnies are dangerous as hell and, unless they have The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, shooting won't save them!

[Eeyore]

I'll be at Castle Anthrax facing a little bit of peril. I don't need no stupid cup.

[Corey]

You jest, but I can recall when Carter was attacked by a killer rabbit. At least the Secret Service didn't shoot it.

https://historyfacts.com/famous-figures/fact/jimmy-carter-was-once-attacked-by-a-swamp-rabbit/

[friscoda]

It was a nutria, not a rabbit. Misidentified until a local noted lots of nutrias in the area.

[mad.casual]

Have we already forgotten Ofc. Jessie Hernandez?

Two tactical rolls and 32 rounds fired into a vehicle occupied by an unarmed suspect. Fortunately, no one was injured. No word on the condition of the acorn.

[Eeyore]

Felt the need to shoot a dog - couldn't find one - saw a donkey - close enough.

[eTexNerd]

Maybe GA needs to do this, but for micro-equine: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2015/08/28/training-on-how-to-handle-dogs-to-be-required-for-new-cops/

[BYODB]

You have to imagine these idiots boss is going to have a hard time not laughing when he fires this jackass.

[Murray Rothtard]

I watched the video. That donkey was clearly about to drive right over the cops. That's just good shooting. And even though they already had the donkey safely pinned to the ground with multiple officers, that donkey shouldn't have been legally carrying a firearm. Donkeys just deserve to get pumped full of lead in these situations.

Get home safe, officers.

[Heywood]

If you "wander" onto private property without a warrant and shoot a mini donkey because you feel threatened, maybe you're too jumpy to be a cop.

[NM Dave]

Why are cops such pussies? They're afraid of everything! In my city, a cop murdered a 75 year old woman with dementia, and he's still out there ready to kill again. The old woman wasn't his first kill either.

[wingnutx]

Hannah Israel, HeeHaw's owner

So it was a zionist donkey and the cops globalized the intifada.

[ravenshrike]

Being as fair as possible to the officers, donkey bites hurt and can cause minor scarring. Maybe break a bone or two or take a finger if you stick your hand in an angry donkey's mouth.