A police officer in Cedartown, Georgia, shot and killed a family's pet donkey after officers searched its pasture during a search for a missing child in the early hours of Sunday morning. The donkey's owner, Hannah Israel, says officers entered her family's property near Rockmart without warning and killed the animal, named HeeHaw, after it ran up to them braying, which she believes is simply normal donkey behaviour rather than a threat. The case has drawn wide public sympathy and raised questions about the proportionality of police responses to animals encountered during searches.

The officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave, and the Cedartown Police Department has handed the investigation to the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Law Enforcement Division. Police say officers reportedly tried to use a Taser on the donkey before shooting it, and the department's chief has confirmed body-camera footage of the incident exists. Israel has hired a lawyer and set up a fundraiser to cover legal costs, with any surplus earmarked for her farm and a proposed HeeHaw foundation; the appeal had raised more than $113,000 by Tuesday morning.