POLK COUNTY, Ga. — A Cedartown police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave after shooting and killing a donkey during a nighttime search for a missing child at a Polk County farm.

The Cedartown Police Department said the officer was assisting Polk County Police officers in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The child had not been located at the time of the shooting but was later found at a church near the pasture where the donkey was killed.

Cedartown officials said the Georgia Department of Agriculture Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting.

The department said it could not comment further while the investigation is ongoing.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook that its department was not involved in the shooting. The office said the incident involved officers from the Polk County Police Department and the Cedartown Police Department.

Elsberry Riding and Farm, a Rockmart farm that offers trail rides, camps, a petting zoo and pony ride parties, said officers entered the property’s pasture around 12:45 a.m. Sunday while searching for the missing child.

The farm said the officers did so without the owner’s permission or warning.

According to a statement posted by Hannah Israel, who identifies herself as the donkey’s owner, the animal, named HeeHaw, ran toward officers while braying.

Israel said officers attempted to tase the donkey before shooting and killing him.

“PLEASE SHARE! Polk county cop KILLED my baby donkey!” Israel wrote in a social media post.

Israel described HeeHaw as a bottle-raised donkey who had been raised in the house and participated in petting zoos.

She said he was friendly and “never knew a stranger.”
“He was shot and killed in his OWN pasture for doing what donkeys do,” Israel wrote. “Alerting to a stranger.”

Israel has established a GoFundMe campaign titled “Cover Lawyer Fees After HeeHaw’s Tragic Death” to help pay for legal costs.

As of Monday, the fundraiser had collected more than $100,000.

Israel said any money raised beyond legal fees would go toward caring for and feeding the farm’s animals.

The investigation remains ongoing.