CEDARTOWN, Ga. — Cedartown police have released an officer’s report detailing his account of why he shot and killed a family’s miniature donkey.
Channel 2 Action News at 4:00 p.m. first told you about Heehaw, a 1-year-old miniature donkey, earlier this week. He was killed in a pasture along Grady Road in Polk County while police were searching for a missing 12-year-old girl.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Channel 2’s Ashlyn Webb obtained the report written by Officer Trenton Garner, who has been placed on leave during the investigation.
Garner wrote that he and K-9 units from multiple agencies were searching on a hill when horses in the pasture were “spooked” near the fence line and ran away from them.
The Haralson County K-9 unit “retreated.” The officer stated that a donkey began to charge at him and a K-9 handler from one of the other departments. The handler took out his Taser and used it on him.
“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. I then fired a single round striking the donkey,” Garner wrote.
Webb went to Garner’s home on Friday and found officers outside who would not let her go to the door. She was told that they don’t want anyone at the home.
TRENDING STORIES
- Man shot, killed in armed robbery at luxury apartments in Buckhead
- Instructor, student called 911 from crashed airplane, critically injured
- Fulton County Jail’s elevator trapped officer with inmates: An inside look at the jail’s issues
Heehaw died in the shooting. When his owner got there, she told officers that Heehaw “would never act aggressive towards anyone.”
Webb spoke with the owner, Hannah Israel, on Monday. Israel is planning to take legal action.
“He was very well socialized. He would go to petting zoos with the kids and adults at nursing homes,” Israel said. “Heehaw thought people were his family and he was our family.”
She is demanding to see the body camera video of what threat her miniature donkey caused.
“I’ll be shocked, completely shocked if he was being aggressive. Like I’ve mentioned before, he thought he was a dog,” she said. “He was not, like, an attack donkey or anything like that.”
No charges have been filed against Garner. The Georgia Department of Agriculture is investigating.
“We take animal death investigation extremely seriously. This incident will be investigated thoroughly and impartially, and we will make an appropriate recommendation once the investigation has been concluded,” Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said in a statement.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
