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Georgia Police Officer on Leave After Family’s Pet Donkey Shot During Search

A Cedartown, Georgia, police officer has been placed on administrative leave after fatally shooting a pet donkey named HeeHaw during an overnight search for a missing person. The donkey’s owner, Hannah Israel, said officers entered her pasture without permission, and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office confirmed its deputies were not involved. An investigation is underway.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 31, 2026 Published 1h ago

Overview

A police officer in Cedartown, Georgia, has been placed on administrative leave after a family’s pet baby donkey was shot and killed during an early-morning search on their property. The incident occurred on August 30 in Polk County, according to reports from Fox 5 Atlanta and local media.

The donkey, named HeeHaw, was a small male who had been bottle-raised by his owner, Hannah Israel, and participated in petting zoos. Israel said officers arrived at her pasture at approximately 12:45 m. without notification or permission, reportedly while searching for a missing person.

What Happened

According to Israel’s social media posts, HeeHaw emerged braying at the presence of strangers at Elsberry Farm in Rockmart. An officer, who claimed he felt under threat, shot and killed the donkey after reportedly attempting to use a Taser first. Israel wrote on Facebook: “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.”

Israel described HeeHaw as “raised in the house and did petting zoos [and] never knew a stranger.” She added: “He was shot and killed in his own pasture for doing what donkeys do. Alerting to a stranger. There is no way this is legal. We are heartbroken. He was my son.”

Official Response

Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome told local media that an officer had been placed on administrative leave and that an investigation was underway. Newsome said command staff had opened an inquiry, according to Coosa Valley News. The officer who fired the fatal shot has not been publicly identified.

The only official statement issued as of Monday came from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, which said its deputies were not involved. The agency confirmed that law enforcement personnel from the separate police departments of Polk County and Cedartown were present. In a statement, the sheriff’s office said: “We extend our sincere condolences to the family and everyone affected by this unfortunate incident. We understand the concern and sadness surrounding what occurred.”

The Polk County Police Department, Cedartown’s municipal government, and its police department did not respond to requests for comment from The Guardian and Newsweek.

Community Reaction and Fundraising

A social media backlash grew by Monday morning over the lack of an official statement from the city or police department. Meanwhile, an online fundraising appeal launched by Israel to support legal action over HeeHaw’s killing quickly surpassed its target. The GoFundMe page, which had raised over $42,000 by Monday, stated: “My bottle baby donkey ‘HeeHaw’ was killed in his own pasture on Saturday night by trespassing cops. He was a loved member of our family and did many petting zoos and made many people smile.”

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Newsweek

Framing: The headline emphasizes the officer being placed on leave and the shooting of the donkey, with the donkey's name included. — The tone is factual and neutral, reporting the incident without overt emotional language.

as of Aug 31, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC

Facts Included:

A police officer has been placed on administrative leave after a baby donkey was shot and killed during an overnight law enforcement search in Polk County, Georgia.
The donkey, named HeeHaw, was killed early on August 30 during an investigation involving officers from the Cedartown Police Department and Polk County Police Department, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
Polk County Sheriff's Office confirmed that its deputies were not involved in the incident.
Newsweek reached out to Polk County police via email on Monday for further comment.
According to a social media post from Elsberry Riding and Farm, officers entered the property's pasture at about 12:45 a.m. while searching for a missing person.
The farm said HeeHaw approached the officers while braying.
The post alleges officers attempted to use a Taser on the donkey before an officer shot and killed him.
Authorities have not independently confirmed those details.
The farm described HeeHaw as a beloved pet who had been bottle-raised and participated in petting zoos.
The donkey's owner, Hannah Israel, wrote on a GoFundMe fundraiser: "My bottle baby 'HeeHaw' was killed in his own pasture on Saturday night by trespassing cops."
So far, the fundraiser has raised over $42,000 of its $90,000 goal.
Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome said the department's command staff has launched an investigation into the shooting, Fox 5 Atlanta reported.
The officer who fired the fatal shot has not been publicly identified and has been placed on administrative leave while the investigation continues.
Officials have not provided further details about the circumstances that led to HeeHaw being shot.
"We extend our sincere condolences to the family and everyone affected by this unfortunate incident," the sheriff's office said, per Fox 5 Atlanta, adding that it understood "the concern and sadness surrounding what occurred."
The City of Cedartown said it is aware of the incident but declined to provide additional information because the investigation remains active.

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The Guardian — World

Framing: Focuses on the officer being put on leave and the pet donkey's death during a search. — Sympathetic to the family and critical of the police response.

as of Aug 31, 2026, 1:30 PM UTC

Facts Included:

A police officer in Georgia was placed on leave after a family's pet baby donkey was shot and killed.
The donkey was named HeeHaw.
HeeHaw emerged braying at the presence of strangers at Elsberry farm in Rockmart and was shot dead by an officer who claimed he felt under threat.
Jamie Newsome, Cedartown police department chief, told local media an officer had been placed on leave and an inquiry was under way.
A social media backlash was growing by Monday morning over the absence of any official statement from the city or police.
An online fundraising appeal launched by Israel surpassed a target.
Israel wrote on Facebook that officers 'claimed he ran up to them braying and they thought they were in danger and shot and killed him after trying to taze him.'
Israel described HeeHaw as 'raised in the house and did petting zoos' and 'never knew a stranger.'
The only official statement as of Monday was from the Polk county sheriff's office, which said its officers were not involved and that law enforcement personnel from Polk county and Cedartown were present.
The sheriff's office extended condolences and said 'We understand the concern and sadness surrounding what happened.'
Polk county police department, Cedartown's municipal government and its police department did not respond to a request for comment.
Israel said HeeHaw was bottle-raised and killed in his own pasture by 'trespassing' officers.
Coosa Valley News reported Newsome said command staff had opened an investigation and the officer was on administrative leave.

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimA police officer in Georgia was placed on administrative leave after a family's pet baby donkey was shot and killed during an overnight law enforcement search on the family's property.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC, The Guardian — World as of Aug 31, 2026, 1:30 PM UTC
ClaimThe pet donkey's name was HeeHaw.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Guardian — World as of Aug 31, 2026, 1:30 PM UTC, Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC
ClaimHeeHaw was killed on August 30 during an overnight law enforcement search for a missing person at a property in Polk County, Georgia.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via Newsweek as of Aug 31, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC, The Guardian — World as of Aug 31, 2026, 1:30 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: Newsweek, The Guardian — World 3 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-31