What an ass.
A beloved therapy donkey was killed by a hunter who said he had simply missed his intended target.
Angelique was inside a pen with the rest of her herd at Hasty’s Haven sanctuary in South Carolina when she was struck by a stray bullet Sunday, the opening day of hunting season.
The donkey, who had once worked as a therapy animal for children with special needs, had lived at the sanctuary for several years. Its owners said she was “taken violently and in a negligent manner” by someone hunting less than 300 yards from the property’s fence line.
The hunter has not been publicly identified. He has since been charged in connection with the shooting in Belton with negligent use of a firearm and hunting within 300 yards of a residence.
He could face a fine of up to $200 and as many as 30 days in jail.
The man said he was aiming at a deer, not Angelique — an explanation that did little to ease the owners’ anger and grief.
“Hunting 101, know your target!” the sanctuary wrote in a Facebook post Monday.
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“Deer are light brown. Angelique was a dark colored donkey.”
“Did he think Angelique was a deer? I don’t know and don’t care what his story is,” Angelique’s owner said, describing the donkey’s death as a “nightmare we can’t wake up from.”
The hunter is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 11. Angelique’s owners say they will attend the hearing and are also pursuing additional legal action.
“We will be filing a civil suit,” they said. “This cannot happen ever again.”
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources called the shooting an “unfortunate incident.”
“Hunters must always positively identify their target, be aware of what lies beyond it, and ensure they are shooting in a safe direction,” a spokesperson said.
The shooting happened about a month after Georgia police officer Trenton Garner shot HeeHaw, a beloved 1-year-old donkey, in a pasture at the Elsberry Riding and Farm ranch in Rockmart, Georgia.
Garner said he fired because the animal was charging at him.
