ROCKMART, Georgia — The controversial d3ath of a beloved miniature donkey named HeeHaw has moved from a Georgia pasture into federal court, with his owner accusing a police officer of unlawfully entering her property and unnecessarily using deadly force against the animal.
Hannah Michelle Israel, owner of HeeHaw and Elsberry Riding and Farm, filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit on September 11, 2026, against Cedartown Police Officer Trenton Ryan Garner.
The complaint stems from the late-night search for a missing 12-year-old girl that brought law-enforcement officers onto Israel’s property in Rockmart at the end of August.
The girl was eventually found safe.
HeeHaw, however, did not survive.
Garner acknowledges firing the sh0t that k1lled the donkey but maintains that he acted because the animal was charging toward members of the search team.
Israel strongly disputes that description.
Now those competing versions could be examined in federal court.
Owner says officers entered her pasture without permission
According to the federal complaint, Garner and other law-enforcement personnel entered Israel’s enclosed property on Grady Road in Rockmart sometime between the night of August 29 and the early hours of August 30.
Israel alleges that officers did not contact her beforehand.
She further claims they entered without her permission, without a search warrant and without circumstances legally justifying the warrantless entry.
Search teams were looking for a 12-year-old girl who had been reported missing.
The operation involved K-9 teams and drone assistance.
While officers were moving through the pasture, they encountered HeeHaw.
What happened next is fiercely disputed
Israel’s lawsuit describes HeeHaw as a small, young and calm animal that did not represent a danger to the officers.
The family’s description of the donkey is very different from the account provided by Officer Trenton Garner.
According to Garner’s incident report, HeeHaw came charging toward officers.
A Polk County K-9 handler allegedly activated the electrical arc of a Taser in an attempt to frighten the donkey and make him retreat.
Garner said the animal continued approaching.
The officer reported that he then fired one sh0t, saying he acted to protect the K-9 handler and members of a bloodhound search team from being h3rt.
According to his account, HeeHaw moved back up a hill before collapsing.
Those assertions remain part of Garner’s account and have not yet been resolved by a court.
Hannah Israel says HeeHaw was accustomed to people
Israel rejects the suggestion that her donkey posed the type of threat described by the officer.
She has said HeeHaw was bottle-raised, socialized and accustomed to interacting with people.
The miniature donkey had even participated in local petting-zoo activities.
For Israel, HeeHaw was much more than livestock.
He was part of her family and farm.
That difference between the owner’s description of HeeHaw and the officer’s account of an animal allegedly charging the search team is now one of the central factual disputes surrounding the case.
Family says they were left searching for HeeHaw in the dark
The lawsuit contains another allegation about what happened after the sh00ting.
Israel claims officers left the property without immediately telling her where HeeHaw was located.
According to the complaint, a police supervisor later contacted her and informed her that a donkey had been “dispatched.”
Israel says she and a child then had to search several acres of the pasture in darkness before finding HeeHaw’s body.
FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the family said the search took as long as approximately 20 minutes.
Federal lawsuit alleges constitutional violations
The dispute is no longer limited to whether the officer should have fired.
Israel’s federal lawsuit raises broader constitutional questions about the officers’ presence on her property and the destruction of her animal.
The complaint asserts three principal federal civil-rights claims involving alleged unlawful entry and search, unreasonable seizure and destruction of property, and deprivation of property without due process.
Israel alleges violations of rights protected by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.
She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorneys’ fees, court costs and other relief.
She has also requested a jury trial.
The lawsuit names Trenton Ryan Garner in his individual capacity.
Importantly, the City of Cedartown and Cedartown Police Department are not defendants in that federal lawsuit.
Attorney Christopher McCormick also makes $1 million demand
Separate from the federal complaint, Israel’s attorney, Christopher McCormick, has taken another legal step.
McCormick said he sent a $1 million demand connected with HeeHaw’s d3ath to local authorities, including the Cedartown Police Department and city officials.
According to McCormick, authorities were given a 30-day period to respond to the demand.
That $1 million demand should not be confused with a court award.
No judge or jury has ordered authorities to pay Israel $1 million.
It is a legal demand made by her side as the dispute moves forward.
Officer remains on administrative leave
The federal lawsuit is not the only proceeding connected to HeeHaw’s d3ath.
Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome placed Garner on administrative leave following the incident.
An outside investigation is being conducted by the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Law Enforcement Division.
That investigation remains important because it is separate from Israel’s civil lawsuit and could independently examine whether Garner’s actions complied with applicable rules and procedures.
Body-camera footage had not been publicly released in the latest reporting reviewed for this story.
The missing 12-year-old girl was eventually found safe
The entire chain of events began with the search for a missing child.
Law-enforcement teams were trying to locate a 12-year-old girl when they entered the area around Israel’s pasture.
She was eventually located safe near the area being searched.
Her identity has appropriately not been widely publicized because she is a minor and was the subject of a missing-person search.
The search ended successfully for the child.
But it also left Israel’s family mourning HeeHaw and demanding an explanation for why their animal had to d1e.
Two dramatically different accounts now head into the legal process
For Hannah Michelle Israel, the case is about a beloved, gentle animal that she believes was unnecessarily k1lled after officers entered her property without permission.
For Officer Trenton Ryan Garner, according to his incident report, the decision to fire came during a rapidly developing situation in which he believed a charging donkey posed an immediate danger to members of the search team.
Neither version has been established as the final truth by a federal court.
The lawsuit’s allegations remain allegations.
The officer’s justification will likewise be examined against the available evidence.
Now the federal civil-rights case, the outside investigation and any available physical or video evidence could determine what happened in that Georgia pasture.
The missing girl officers were searching for made it home safely.
HeeHaw did not.
And more than two weeks later, Hannah Israel is asking a federal court to decide whether the officer who fired the fatal sh0t violated her constitutional rights when her family’s miniature donkey was k1lled.
