A Las Vegas veterinarian who was caught on camera kicking a horse in the face has been found dead in Lake Mead weeks after he went missing.
The body of 56-year-old Shawn Frehner, an embattled veterinarian who disappeared earlier this month, was recovered on Friday from Lake Mead, near the Boulder Islands within the reservoir, according to a report by Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The National Park Service, along with the Nevada Department of Wildlife and volunteers from Red Rock Search and Rescue, reportedly searched the reservoir after finding Frehner’s truck, as well as his wallet, keys, and cellphone near the water’s edge.
Authorities did not provide a cause or manner of death for the veterinarian, who was identified through dental records.
Frehner went missing on April 6, shortly after a video was posted online showing a man purported to be him kicking a horse in the face, and just days after Pahrump, Nevada, resident Shawna Gonzalez filed a criminal complaint against the veterinarian, accusing him of mistreating her horse.
Gonzalez had initially shared the video of her horse, named Big Red, being brutally kicked in the face to social media.
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After the video went viral online — before he disappeared — Frehner took to social media to apologize for kicking the horse but also defended his actions and claimed the footage made the incident look worse than it actually was.
“I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video,” Frehner reportedly wrote in a Facebook post. That was not my intention at all. It was done simply to get the horse in a better position so that he could breathe and get up and move so I could again try to anesthetize.”
“But yes, I did kick him right in the chin and I very much do apologize and wish this never happened,” the veterinarian added.
But Frehner’s explanation did not quell outrage among social media users, who flooded the comment sections of the veterinarian’s personal Facebook account to lambast him.
“You are only sorry it was video taped. You are a monster,” one Facebook user wrote.
“I really hope you spend the rest of your life in jail and you are treated the same way you treat animals. You are an awful human,” another commented.
“You are a sick SOB. They should revoke your license. I will share the video of you abusing animals till they do. You worthless sick piece of crap,” a third remarked.
“You are a disgusting individual and a disgrace to Equine Veterinarians, heck the ENTIRE Veterinarian community,” another Facebook user exclaimed. “Karma is coming to you and I hope you get every little bit you deserve!”
“You are a disgusting human,” another echoed. “I hope everyone drops you as their vet, as a friend and as a part of their community. I hope this ruins you.”
Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill confirmed to local newspapers that the sheriff’s office had received Gonzalez’s complaint of felony animal abuse and was investigating the matter before Frehner disappeared.
“This is not what I wanted in the end at all,” Gonzalez told Las Vegas Review-Journal of Frehner’s death. “I had no idea this would happen, but I was not the one bullying.”
“I am not sorry for standing up for my horse,” she said.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
