10
Loading video...
By Aliss Higham
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A baby donkey posed "no threat" to the Georgia police officer who shot and killed him during a search for a missing girl, according to a new lawsuit filed by the animal's owner.
Hannah Israel is suing Cedartown Police Officer Trenton Ryan Garner over the August 30 death of HeeHaw, a young miniature donkey she had raised on her property, Elsbery Riding Farm, in Rockmart, Georgia. Officers were searching for a missing 12-year-old girl at the time who was later found safe.
The lawsuit, filed September 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, alleges Garner and other officers entered Israel's enclosed pasture without her permission or a warrant before encountering HeeHaw and shooting him. It describes the donkey as "young, small, and tranquil" and says there was no reason officers should have considered him a threat.
Read More on News
Garner has previously given a different account of what happened that night, saying HeeHaw charged at officers and continued approaching after another officer attempted to frighten him away with a Taser.
The shooting prompted widespread attention earlier this month after Israel posted about the killing on social media. Garner was placed on administrative leave while the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Law Enforcement Division investigates the incident.
Newsweek has contacted Cedartown Police and a legal representative for Israel for comment via email and awaits responses.
...
What Does the Lawsuit Allege?
Israel's complaint says police entered her property sometime between about 10:30 p.m. on August 29 and 1 a.m. the following morning while looking for a missing child. Officers were accompanied by police dogs, while Rockmart firefighters were also helping with the search using a drone, according to the lawsuit.
Israel says no officer contacted her before entering the enclosed pasture, asked for permission or had a warrant. The lawsuit also argues there was no emergency that justified entering the land without one.
It then alleges Garner encountered HeeHaw and shot him despite the donkey posing no danger to the officers or their dogs.
Israel has previously said HeeHaw had been bottle-raised and was comfortable around people, including taking part in petting zoos.
The lawsuit is seeking to hold Garner personally responsible for what Israel says was an unjustified killing of her animal and an unlawful entry onto her property. It argues that her constitutional rights were violated both when officers entered the pasture and when Garner killed HeeHaw.
Israel has previously said she would be taking legal action over HeeHaw's death, writing on social media: "HeeHaw was raised in the house and did petting zoos 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."
...
Owner Says She Had to Search for HeeHaw's Body
The lawsuit also gives new details about what happened after HeeHaw was killed, alleging that Garner and the other officers left the property without directly contacting her and without telling her where they had left HeeHaw's body.
Israel says she later received a call from a Cedartown Police Department supervisor who told her that a donkey on the property had been "dispatched" and later explained that an officer had shot and killed the animal while searching for the missing child.
The caller did not tell her where HeeHaw was, according to the complaint. Israel then searched several acres of pasture in the dark before eventually finding his body, an experience the lawsuit says caused Israel severe emotional distress.
Officer Says HeeHaw Charged
Garner's police report gives a different version of the moments before the shooting. He said officers were following a trail with a K-9 handler and bloodhound team when they entered the pasture and saw HeeHaw on a hill.
Garner wrote that the donkey "began to charge at us." A K-9 handler activated a taser in an attempt to scare the animal away, but Garner said HeeHaw continued toward the officers. Garner then fired one shot, saying he acted to prevent the K-9 handler and bloodhound team from being injured. HeeHaw moved back up the hill before collapsing, according to his report.
The lawsuit directly disputes Garner's description of HeeHaw as a threat, alleging that "no reasonable officer" in the same position would have believed shooting the donkey was necessary. Israel is seeking financial compensation, additional damages intended to punish wrongdoing, legal costs and a jury trial. The complaint does not specify how much money she is seeking.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes and James Debens
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines