At 12:45 a.m. on Sunday, officers from two Georgia police departments entered the Elsberry Riding and Farm pasture without notifying the owner or getting permission — a move civil liberties advocates say raises serious Fourth Amendment concerns about unreasonable search and seizure.
HeeHaw was a bottle-raised baby donkey who lived inside the family home. When officers entered his pasture in the dark, he brayed — the loud call donkeys use to alert others to something unfamiliar in their space. Officers first tried to tase him, then shot and killed him.
Research estimates that police kill around 10,000 pets every year in the United States during searches and home entries. There is no federal law requiring officers to be trained on how to handle animals during these encounters.
In this case, the officer has not been identified, and no explanation has been given for why a braying baby donkey was treated as a lethal threat. The city of Cedartown has declined to comment beyond confirming that the officer is on leave. The same accountability gap that allows officers to shoot people without consequence also allows them to kill pets without consequence.
