Bodycam video shows moments leading up to officer shooting HeeHaw, a beloved pet donkey

CEDARTOWN, Ga. (Gray News) — Body camera video has been released of a police shooting in August that killed a beloved pet donkey.

Video from Cedartown police shows a 1-year-old donkey named HeeHaw trotting toward officers. According to an incident report, an officer tried to scare HeeHaw away with a Taser, but police said he kept coming back.

One officer then fired one shot that killed the animal.

HeeHaw was shot in his own pasture. Officers were on the property searching for a local missing child. Police said the child was later found at a church near the pasture where HeeHaw was killed.

HeeHaw’s owner, Hannah Israel, said her farm is “definitely not the same” without her beloved pet.

Israel told ANF that HeeHaw was simply saying “hello” to the officers because he loved people. The body camera video shows him running toward the officers while braying.

“That would be normal for him because he’s saying hi. That’s what donkeys do. That’s just being a donkey,” Israel told ANF.

Israel said she had bottle-raised HeeHaw from birth inside her home. The baby donkey participated in petting zoos at their farm and mobile petting zoos around the community.

Israel said HeeHaw loved all animals and people, and that he never knew a stranger.

Israel is now suing the officer who shot HeeHaw, identified as Trenton Garner. The lawsuit alleges that officers entered Israel’s pasture without permission and shot HeeHaw without justification.

Garner is fighting the lawsuit. His lawyers said he reasonably believed that HeeHaw posed an immediate threat to another officer. They also said they did not need a warrant to search the pasture.

The shooting has sparked outrage online. The family has started a GoFundMe to help pay for legal fees.