According to Israel, officers entered the family’s property at approximately 12:45 a.m. while searching for a missing person. She said her family was not warned beforehand and did not give officers permission to enter the pasture.
In a Facebook post following the incident, Israel wrote:
“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.”
Israel said HeeHaw was far more than livestock to her family. She had raised him from a young age, including inside her home, and said he had regularly interacted with members of the public through petting-zoo events.
She added:
“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.”
The central question now facing investigators is what happened in the moments before the officer fired.
According to statements attributed to police and accounts from the family, HeeHaw approached the officers while braying. Israel says officers told her that the donkey ran toward them and that they believed they were in danger.
Reports indicate an officer attempted to use a Taser before the animal was shot. The precise sequence of events, including the distance between the officer and HeeHaw and what prompted the use of deadly force, remains under investigation.
The circumstances are especially painful for Israel because of HeeHaw’s temperament.
She described him as an exceptionally friendly animal who had been bottle-raised and was accustomed to people. Local reports say he had participated in petting zoos at the farm and mobile events, giving children and other visitors an opportunity to interact with him.
Israel has questioned why the animal was considered such a serious threat and why officers were inside the pasture in the first place.
The police department, meanwhile, has acknowledged that the shooting occurred while officers were assisting in a search for a missing child.
Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome confirmed that an officer had been placed on administrative leave and that an investigation was underway.
“That search took them to the incident location where this very unfortunate and heartbreaking event occurred.”
Newsome has also expressed sympathy for the family, describing HeeHaw as a beloved animal and saying the situation was heartbreaking.
The missing child was eventually located safely at a nearby church, according to local reporting. Authorities have not publicly released a complete timeline detailing how the search progressed from the initial investigation to the officers’ presence inside the farm’s pasture.
That unanswered question has become a major part of the family’s frustration.
Israel is not only grieving the loss of an animal she considered part of her family; she is also seeking an explanation for how the encounter unfolded and whether the shooting could have been avoided.
The controversy has quickly spread beyond the farm.
Supporters have flooded social media demanding accountability and calling for a full investigation. The family has also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with legal expenses and efforts to seek answers surrounding HeeHaw’s death. Local reports said the fundraiser surpassed tens of thousands of dollars within a short period, reflecting the intensity of the public response.
For Israel, however, no amount of money can replace the animal she raised from a young age.
HeeHaw was known around the farm, interacted with visitors and had become a familiar presence in the community. Now, the pasture where he once greeted strangers is empty.
The investigation will ultimately have to determine whether the officer’s decision to use deadly force was justified under the circumstances.
Until that inquiry is complete, many details remain disputed or unknown. What is not disputed is the outcome: a family pet is dead, an officer is on administrative leave, and a Georgia family is demanding answers about how a search for a missing child ended with their beloved donkey being shot and killed.
For Israel and those who knew HeeHaw, the question is painfully simple: Why did a search that was intended to find and protect a missing child end with the death of a friendly young animal on a family farm?
