Justice for HeeHaw, a baby donkey shot by police
The Issue
As a community member of the Toronto Police Services Missing and Missed Implementation Team, I recognize the life saving work that the officers at a police missing persons unit do. The officers I work with are wonderful people. But unfortunately once in a while you get really cruel behaviour from police that is an unacceptable abuse of power.
A beloved miniature donkey named HeeHaw was shot and killed by a police officer in his own pasture early Sunday morning, apparently because he ran toward officers and brayed.
According to owner Hannah Israel, officers entered her family’s pasture in Polk County, Georgia, around 12:45 a.m. while searching for a missing person. The missing girl was later found safe by a different team of officers at a church nearby.
Hannah Israel says the police entered without permission or warning.
When HeeHaw approached the strangers and made noise...perfectly normal behavior for a donkey...officers reportedly tried to Tase him before one shot him dead.
HeeHaw wasn’t some wild, dangerous animal. His family says he had been bottle-raised, spent time inside their home and appeared at petting zoos, where children and families interacted with him.
The Cedartown Police Department placed the officer on administrative leave and opened an investigation. Officials have not identified the officer or publicly explained why deadly force was necessary.
And that is the question that matters: How did a routine search for a missing child end with a friendly domesticated animal dead in his own pasture?
Police routinely encounter barking dogs, startled livestock and frightened animals. Officers are supposed to assess threats, exercise restraint and de-escalate when possible. He wasn’t committing a crime. He wasn’t carrying a weapon. He was an animal in his own pasture.
HeeHaw had spent his life learning that people were friends. He visited petting zoos, stood patiently with children and, as his family remembers him, “never knew a stranger.” That trust followed him right up to the strangers who entered his pasture that night.
Now his owner has started a GoFundMe to help cover legal fees tied to his killing, an effort to find some measure of accountability for an animal who spent his life bringing children joy, and whose final encounter with people brought him anything but kindness. 💔😢
146
The Issue
As a community member of the Toronto Police Services Missing and Missed Implementation Team, I recognize the life saving work that the officers at a police missing persons unit do. The officers I work with are wonderful people. But unfortunately once in a while you get really cruel behaviour from police that is an unacceptable abuse of power.
A beloved miniature donkey named HeeHaw was shot and killed by a police officer in his own pasture early Sunday morning, apparently because he ran toward officers and brayed.
According to owner Hannah Israel, officers entered her family’s pasture in Polk County, Georgia, around 12:45 a.m. while searching for a missing person. The missing girl was later found safe by a different team of officers at a church nearby.
Hannah Israel says the police entered without permission or warning.
When HeeHaw approached the strangers and made noise...perfectly normal behavior for a donkey...officers reportedly tried to Tase him before one shot him dead.
HeeHaw wasn’t some wild, dangerous animal. His family says he had been bottle-raised, spent time inside their home and appeared at petting zoos, where children and families interacted with him.
The Cedartown Police Department placed the officer on administrative leave and opened an investigation. Officials have not identified the officer or publicly explained why deadly force was necessary.
And that is the question that matters: How did a routine search for a missing child end with a friendly domesticated animal dead in his own pasture?
Police routinely encounter barking dogs, startled livestock and frightened animals. Officers are supposed to assess threats, exercise restraint and de-escalate when possible. He wasn’t committing a crime. He wasn’t carrying a weapon. He was an animal in his own pasture.
HeeHaw had spent his life learning that people were friends. He visited petting zoos, stood patiently with children and, as his family remembers him, “never knew a stranger.” That trust followed him right up to the strangers who entered his pasture that night.
Now his owner has started a GoFundMe to help cover legal fees tied to his killing, an effort to find some measure of accountability for an animal who spent his life bringing children joy, and whose final encounter with people brought him anything but kindness. 💔😢
The Decision Makers
Supporter Voices
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on August 31, 2026