CEDARTOWN, Ga. — Body camera video obtained by CBS Atlanta shows a Cedartown police officer fatally shooting a donkey in a pasture while officers searched for a missing child.
Body camera video shows officers walking through the field on Aug. 30. The donkey approached the officers as they used flashlights to search the area.
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As the donkey galloped toward one of the officers, that officer activated his TASER’s electrical arc in an effort to scare the donkey away. The officer behind him drew his weapon and fired a shot, fatally wounding the donkey.
“Firearm discharged at a donkey. It was trying to attack us in the pasture and on the track,” the officer said on the radio.
The donkey’s owner filed a federal lawsuit, alleging that officers entered her pasture without permission and shot the donkey without provocation.
An attorney for the officer who fired shots told CBS Atlanta that crossing the pasture did not violate the plaintiff’s constitutional rights, meaning that the officer should be shielded from liability.
The officer was placed on administrative leave while the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Law Enforcement Division conducts an investigation.
