Who is Hannah Israel? Heartbroken owner speaks out after beloved donkey HeeHaw is killed by cop: ‘He was my son!’ | Hindustan Times

The owner of a donkey was left heartbroken after a Cedartown police officer allegedly shot the animal dead in Polk County on Sunday, August 30. Hannah Israel has spoken out after the incident, calling HeeHaw the donkey her “son.”Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsome said that command staff launched an investigation into the shooting. The unidentified officer was placed on administrative leave.Who is Hannah Israel?Israel is a Georgia farm owner. Her Facebook profile says she lives in Rockmart, Georgia but is from New Braunfels, Texas, and works at Elsberry Riding & Farm.Also Read | HeeHaw GoFundMe: Cedartown officer on leave after ‘baby donkey’ shot dead in Polk County, ‘Killed in his own pasture’“At 12:45am cops entered my pasture searching for a missing person WITHOUT permission or warning and shot and killed my bottle raised baby donkey,” she wrote on Facebook. “They claimed he ran up to them braying and they thought they were in danger and shot and killed him after trying to taze him.”Israel added, “HeeHaw was raised in the house and did petting zoos he never knew a stranger. And was shot and killed in his OWN pasture for doing what donkeys do. Alerting to a stranger. There is no way this is legal! I will be taking legal action. Share this everywhere and get justice for HeeHaw. We are heart broken, he was my SON!!” The City of Cedartown said in a social media post that “the Cedartown Police Department is aware that a city police officer shot and killed a donkey in the early hours of Sunday morning.” It confirmed that the incident took place while officers were searching for a missing child.“A Cedartown police officer was on the scene after being called by Polk County Police to assist with a nighttime search for a missing child. The child had not been found at of the time of the shooting. Thankfully, the child was later located at a church near the pasture where the donkey was killed,” it said.Also Read | ‘Justice for HeeHaw’: Netizens fume after Cedartown police officer kills beloved donkey during search for missing childThe statement added, “The Cedartown Police Department has turned over the investigation of the animal shooting to the Georgia Department of Agriculture Law Enforcement Division for investigation and placed the officer involved on paid administrative leave while this investigation is ongoing. Because of the nature of this investigation, neither the Cedartown Police Department nor any other city department can comment further on the matter at this time.”An active investigation is underway.A GoFundMe has been launched for HeeHaw.