District Attorney Jaeson Smith declined charges against Cedartown Officer Trenton Garner in the shooting of HeeHaw.

Declining a charge is not an acquittal, because there is no criminal case to acquit. It is also not a judgment in Hannah Israel's federal lawsuit, which Coosa Valley News reported was still met with a qualified-immunity motion. A Department of Agriculture recommendation and Smith's decision are not the same conclusion.

WSB-TV, by Ashlyn Webb, November 3, 2026, at 6:59 p.m. EST, reported Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jaeson Smith has concluded that a Cedartown police officer will not face criminal charges for fatally shooting a donkey named HeeHaw during a search for a missing juvenile in August. A video title on that page says beloved miniature donkey. The clearance story's body says a donkey. It reported a 12-page report on the Aug. 30 shooting on Grady Road, including body-camera footage, witness interviews, dispatch records, and findings from the Georgia Department of Agriculture. It reported Smith determined Officer Trenton Garner's decision was legally justified based on the officers' perception of an immediate threat, and that Smith wrote, "Garner's actions do not sustain criminal liability." It reported he defended the entry into the pasture under the open-fields doctrine and the emergency of a missing juvenile. Atlanta News First, by Atlanta News First staff, published Nov. 3, 2026, at 11:44 p.m. EST, with an update line that read 21 hours ago and did not print a new clock, reported Officer Trenton Garner's decision to shoot the 1-year-old donkey, named HeeHaw, does not warrant animal cruelty charges. Animal cruelty, on that page, and the aggravated-cruelty count Local 3 News quoted, are not the same charge name. One-year-old is Atlanta News First. It is not in the WSB-TV body. It reported the district attorney for the Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, which covers Polk County, and that a report released Monday supported the officers' claim of immediate danger. Monday, on a story published Tuesday night, is not a date WSB-TV prints. It reported police said the child was later found at a church near the pasture where HeeHaw was killed. WSB-TV's clearance story does not print the church. 11Alive, by John Dodge, published 4:28 p.m. EST November 4, 2026, and updated at the same time, reported a prosecutor will not file criminal charges against the officer involved in the fatal shooting of Heehaw the donkey. Heehaw, with a lowercase h, is 11Alive. HeeHaw is WSB-TV and Atlanta News First. District Attorney Jaeson Smith of the Tallapoosa Judicial Area, on 11Alive, and Tallapoosa Judicial Circuit, on the other pages, are not the same title. Late August, on 11Alive, and Aug. 30, on WSB-TV, are not the same date. 11Alive does not print Garner's name, Israel's name, or the church. Local 3 News, by Local 3 News staff and producer Andrew Brown, dated Nov. 4, 2026, with an update line that read 5 hours ago and did not print a new clock, reported Cedartown Police officer Trenton Garner has been legally cleared in the death of pet donkey "Heehaw." Heehaw, in quotation marks, and HeeHaw, are not the same spelling. It reported that in September, Garner and two other officers, with K-9 units and a drone, were searching for a missing child. In September, and Aug. 30, are not the same month. It reported the child was later found in a nearby church. At a church near the pasture, and in a nearby church, are not the same phrase. Coosa Valley News, by Staff Reports, Nov. 4, 2026, headlined the story "Cedartown Policer Officer Cleared in Fatal Shooting of HeeHaw the Donkey." Policer is the spelling in that headline. It reported the Aug. 30 incident, a missing juvenile, and a child believed to be in danger, and that Garner acted within the law when he fired a single shot. The juvenile is not named on any of these pages.

The shooting account is not one sentence. WSB-TV reported the incident began at approximately 10:23 p.m. Aug. 29, when responders were dispatched to Coaling Road after a juvenile was reported missing, that Polk County Officer Caleb Thomasson, who was off duty, arrived first, followed by Garner, and that the search included thermal-imaging drones and a bloodhound from Haralson County. It reported that at approximately 12:10 a.m. Aug. 30, Thomasson, Garner, and a Haralson County K-9 deputy were in a pasture when they saw the donkey, that officers backed away, that the donkey went from walking to trotting toward Thomasson, and that Thomasson pulled his Taser. It reported Smith wrote the donkey was within approximately arm's length of Thomasson, head raised and mouth open, before Garner fired one shot, and that HeeHaw ran uphill and then collapsed. Pulled his Taser, and fired one shot, are that account. It reported Garner's body camera activated about 12 seconds after the shot, that a 30-second pre-activation feature captured the moments before the shot without audio, and that Garner later said, "God, I hate that I had to do that." Local 3 News reported body-cam video shows the donkey approaching with its head up and mouth open, that Garner then shot the donkey, and that he told a dispatcher the "donkey was trying to attack us." It quoted Smith that, to prove aggravated cruelty to animals, malice must exist without a statutory defense, and that based on Thomasson's and Entrekin's immediate sense of serious bodily harm, Garner's actions can be considered reasonable to protect others. Entrekin is Local 3 News. WSB-TV does not print that name. The same Local 3 News page, under a previous story stamped SPET. 15, 2026, reported an officer tased and then fatally shot the donkey, and that police say Heehaw charged at a K9. Tased, on that earlier text, and pulled his Taser, on WSB-TV, are not the same act. Charged at a K9, and within arm's length of Thomasson, are not the same target. Atlanta News First reported an officer and a deputy assisting Garner had an "immediate sense of serious bodily harm," and that Smith's findings "stemmed primarily from the Department of Agriculture's investigation," while a review of all the evidence shows the actions "do not sustain criminal liability." It does not print a Taser, one shot, arm's length, Grady Road, or Coaling Road. 11Alive does not print the sequence. Coosa Valley News reported officers tried to move away, that the animal came within close proximity of one deputy, and that body-camera footage showed them backing away before the shot. Close proximity, and arm's length, are not the same distance. Coosa Valley News reported Garner was heard expressing regret, and it did not print the quotation.

The temperament dispute is why the recommendation and the declination are different documents. WSB-TV reported Hannah Israel told investigators the animal loved people, had never behaved aggressively, and would run toward visitors because he was happy to see them. It reported Smith cited two other witnesses, including a neighbor who said he helped bottle-feed HeeHaw, that the animal had attacked him, that he escaped over a fence, and that HeeHaw had bitten a child at a camp on July 15. The child is not named. It reported another witness, who had worked on equipment near the pasture, described jumping, biting, and kicking. It reported Israel described HeeHaw as approximately 100 pounds and a necropsy recorded 150. It reported Department of Agriculture Inspector General Harlan Proveaux believed Garner had violated criminal statutes and prepared a probable cause report after a Sept. 15 meeting with prosecutors. It reported Smith wrote that those reports failed to address the officers' perception of danger, the drone operator's statements, and the prior-behavior accounts, and that references to drone footage were inaccurate because the drones did not record video. 11Alive reported Smith said a neighbor claimed Heehaw had attacked him and had not been in petting zoos since it was very young because it attacked people, jumped on them, and bit them, and that those accounts contrasted with the owner's description of a sweet donkey she had bottle-fed as a baby. It reported Smith questioned a photograph of Heehaw's death that the owner posted and that later went viral, and that he believes the photograph was staged. It reported the basis for that belief was not detailed. It reported those points were among the differences with the Department of Agriculture's recommendation to pursue criminal charges, and that he would not pursue a criminal case. A recommendation to pursue charges, on 11Alive, and Proveaux's probable cause report, on WSB-TV, are not the same document name. Atlanta News First does not print Proveaux, the weights, or the word recommendation. It prints that the findings stemmed primarily from the agriculture investigation and that the conduct does not sustain criminal liability. Local 3 News reported a neighbor recounted a July incident in which the donkey "attacked a small child" at a camp, bit the child, and would come up "screaming and biting." A small child, and a child at a camp on July 15, are not the same fullness. The child is not named. Coosa Valley News reported the owner called the animal friendly, and other witnesses described charging, a fence, a bite, kicking, and jumping. It does not print the agriculture recommendation.

The criminal decision is not the civil case. WSB-TV reported Christopher McCormick, attorney for Hannah Israel, released a statement: "We are strong supporters of law enforcement, but we equally support accountability. There was simply no justification for HeeHaw to be killed; in a rural community, we expect law enforcement officers to have a better understanding of animals, and there is no universe in which HeeHaw posed any danger whatsoever. Our battle for accountability will continue." The sentence before the quotation does not put a comma after Israel. Atlanta News First reported the same quotation and attributed it to Israel's attorney, Chris McCormick. Christopher, and Chris, are not the same name on the page. Atlanta News First reported Israel is pursuing a federal civil-rights lawsuit accusing Garner of an illegal search of her farm and the wrongful killing of a pet she described as tranquil and harmless. It reported Garner was placed on administrative leave while the Georgia Department of Agriculture's Law Enforcement Division investigated. It reported Smith wrote that he was aware of multiple threats of violence and death toward people involved, people affiliated with the agencies, and people with no direct involvement, and that those threats were referred to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Those threats are not the donkey case. 11Alive reported the officer is facing a civil lawsuit filed by the owner, and it did not print the quotation or the lawyer's name. Local 3 News's previous story, still on the clearance page, reported a federal civil-rights lawsuit, that the owner claims Garner entered without permission or a warrant, that the lawsuit says the donkey was small and calm, that officers left without saying the animal was dead, and that the owner seeks compensatory and punitive damages and court costs. It also reported Garner has been placed on leave pending an investigation. Pending an investigation, under that earlier text, and legally cleared, in the Nov. 4 update above it, are both on the page. Owners, plural, in the update's line about who demanded compensation, and Hannah Israel, are not the same number. Coosa Valley News reported the owner of Heehaw raised over $167,380 through a Gofund me account. Gofund me is the spelling. Heehaw, in that sentence, and HeeHaw, in the headline, are not the same spelling. It reported Hannah Michelle Israel has filed a lawsuit alleging officers entered her fenced pasture without a warrant, permission, or legal justification, raising federal claims of unlawful entry, unreasonable seizure and destruction of property, and deprivation of property without due process, and seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney fees, and a jury trial. Hannah Michelle Israel is that page. The others print Hannah Israel. It reported that as of late October, Garner had asked the court to dismiss, arguing qualified immunity because he was acting within his duties and reasonably believed the donkey posed a threat to another officer. A motion to dismiss is not a ruling. A declination is not that motion. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.