'Justice 4 HeeHaw': Cedartown farm owner mourning loss of beloved baby donkey allegedly shot, killed by officer

It was unusually quiet at Elsberry Farm in Cedartown on Monday afternoon.

You could hear the cows, the pigs and the roosters.

That's because HeeHaw, the beloved donkey who had become a fixture at the farm, was allegedly shot and killed by a Cedartown Police officer early Sunday morning while the officer was searching for a missing child.

For Elsberry Farm owner Hannah Israel, who bottle-raised HeeHaw as if he was her own from the time he was just an hour old, the silence is heartbreaking.

"He was my kid," Israel said. "I bottle raised him from one hour old, and I was up at all hours of the night."

HeeHaw had no problem making himself heard.

"He would normally be standing right over there talking while I'm talking because he thought he could talk like a person could talk," Israel said.

And apparently, he considered just about everyone a friend.

"Every time he saw somebody, he would run up and bray," Israel said. "And then do a really goofy sound, and because he loved people, and he thought he was a person. He slept in my bed for the first three months of his life."

That friendly personality may have been what ultimately put HeeHaw in harm's way.

Cedartown Police Chief Jamie Newsom said one of his officers shot and killed the donkey while officers were searching for a missing child.

"That search took them to the incident location where this very unfortunate and heartbreaking event occurred," Newsom said.

Newsom declined to provide details about what happened immediately before the shooting, saying the incident is now under investigation.

He did confirm that body camera footage exists and that he has reviewed it.

"I will confirm body cam video exists. I have viewed it, but I won't comment as to what it portrays to respect the investigation that that state agency is going to do so," Newsom said.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture's Law Enforcement Division was at Elsberry Farm on Monday investigating HeeHaw's death.

Israel said she is struggling to understand how the situation ended with the loss of an animal who was such a major part of her daily life.

"I don't see any reason that he is not here right now," she said.

Newsom said he understands the heartbreak.

"They're members of the human family, and I am too, and heartbroken," he said.

For Israel, the loss is more than the death of a farm animal.

HeeHaw had been with her through countless days and nights since she raised him from infancy. He followed her around, greeted people and, by all accounts, made sure nobody visiting the farm left without hearing his opinion.

Now, the farm has cows, pigs and roosters -- but one very important voice is missing.

"Just traumatized and shocked," Israel said. "I honestly can't even believe he's not here. He was such a part of our lives, just daily, every single day. Yeah, there's no words."

The Georgia Department of Agriculture investigation remains ongoing. Authorities have not released additional details about what led to the shooting.