A Georgia police officer has been cleared of criminal charges in connection with the shooting death of a miniature donkey named HeeHaw. Officer Trenton Garner, 24, will not face charges, the district attorney for the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit announced Tuesday.
Garner was placed on administrative leave after the incident at Elsberry Farm in Cedartown on the night of August 29. He was part of a team searching for a missing 12-year-old girl when he encountered the donkey.
According to an incident report, Garner and other officers followed footprints to a pasture. The report states that horses in the pasture became spooked, and subsequently, a K-9 handler tased a donkey that allegedly began to charge. Garner then drew his firearm and fired a single shot, killing the one-year-old animal.
Garner stated in the report that he fired the shot to protect himself, the K-9 officer, and the bloodhounds from the animal.
The owner's attorney, however, disputes the necessity of the shooting. "There was simply no justification for HeeHaw to be killed," the attorney said in a statement to Fox 5 Atlanta. "There's no universe in which he posed any danger whatsoever. Our battle for accountability will continue." The owner's legal team plans to pursue accountability through an ongoing civil lawsuit, and they have not yet received official court documentation confirming the charges were cleared.
The owner, Hannah Israel, raised over $100,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to support the farm and its animals, stating that donations would not be for personal gain.