A therapy donkey named Angelique was killed by a hunter’s stray bullet inside her South Carolina pen on the first day of hunting season, and her owners say basic safety rules were ignored.
Angelique was with her herd at Hasty’s Haven sanctuary near Belton when a bullet struck and killed her. The hunter later claimed he had been aiming at a deer.
Sanctuary owners called the death violent and negligent. They said the shooter was hunting less than 300 yards from their fence line, posted a sharp rebuke on Facebook, and vowed both to appear in court and to file a civil suit.
Reporting on the case described Angelique as a former therapy animal for special-needs children who had lived at the sanctuary for several years.
The center’s bosses did not soften their view of what happened. They framed the shooting as a failure of the most basic hunting rule.
In a Monday Facebook post, the owners wrote:
"Hunting 101, know your target!"
They added a blunt contrast:
"Deer are light brown. Angelique was a dark colored donkey."
One bewildered owner put the core question this way:
"Did he think Angelique was a deer? I don’t know and don’t care what his story is."
They also called the loss a “nightmare we can’t wake up from,” said they will file a civil suit, and insisted, “This cannot happen ever again.”
Authorities charged the unnamed hunter with negligent use of a firearm and hunting within 300 yards of a residence after the Belton-area shooting. He faces a maximum fine of $200 and potentially 30 days in jail. His court date is Nov. 11. The sanctuary owners said they plan to be there.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources described the shooting as an “unfortunate incident.” A department spokesperson stressed the standard that every hunter is expected to follow:
"Hunters must always positively identify their target, be aware of what lies beyond it, and ensure they are shooting in a safe direction."
The South Carolina case landed roughly a month after a separate donkey shooting in Georgia. There, Rockmart police officer Trenton Garner shot a 1-year-old donkey named HeeHaw in a pasture at Elsberry Riding and Farm ranch. Garner said the animal had been charging at him.
Two dead donkeys in short order does not make a pattern of law. It does underline the same practical point: once a round leaves the barrel, distance, background, and positive target ID are not optional.
Angelique was not free-ranging wildlife. She was a dark-colored therapy animal inside a fenced pen, killed on opening day by a shot the hunter himself tied to a missed deer. Owners who cared for her are pressing both the criminal case and a civil claim, and the law’s ceiling of a $200 fine plus possible jail time will now face that public scrutiny in open court.
Safe hunting starts with knowing exactly what sits in the sights, and what sits behind them.
