The Internet Has No Sympathy Toward Las Vegas Vet Who Vanished After Kicking A Horse: “Let Him Stay Missing”

Social media has no sympathy for the missing vet from Las Vegas.

Yesterday, a missing persons investigation was launched after Dr. Shawn D. Frehner went missing Monday afternoon. Dr. Frehner is a veterinarian in the area, and many wonder if his disappearance is due to a disturbing viral video regarding his practice.

Last week, Frehner was visiting a woman’s farm when a horrific video was captured of him kicking a colt in the head. Shawna Gonzalez, the property owner, said she’s been using his services since 2024, but was shocked to walk up from her chicken coop to find her colt struggling to breathe with a rope wrapped around its neck three times. When Gonzalez’s daughter heard her mother screaming, she ran to her bedroom window, picking up her phone to record what she saw moments before Frehner kicked the horse in the head.

After the incident, Gonzalez told 8NewsNow that Frehner left her property, leaving her to take the animal to a different veterinary practice to receive care for abrasions to the skull and other unnecessary injuries.

“(Frehner) left my property before my horse was even up. My horse was still down for a good 45 minutes after he left and before he left, there’s several people that were there, and even they can state that he was kind of in a rush off my property.”

After the video was shared on social media, it gained many views, and Frehner apologized for his actions in a social media post.

“I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video. 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.”

A bad situation worsened when Frehner went missing Monday afternoon, opening a multi-agency investigation. The search is focused on the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. A press release obtained by 8NewsNow stated that search efforts involved aerial, marine, and ground resources.

While we hope that Frehner is safe and found, social media has a different response.

However, many users quickly began commenting on the story, offering up some rather disgusting opinions that his disappearance was deserved, given his actions.

“Tripped and fell in a shallow hole in the high desert.”

“Someone gave him a ride to the Train Station…”

“Mary Anne and Wanda were the best of friends…”

“The guy can’t even take responsibility, ‘Wasn’t my intention to kick him.’ Yeah, okay, he deliberately kicked that horse. ‘Missing,’ no, he knew he was in the wrong, and now he’s taking it further instead of facing the consequences for his actions.”

“Oh well, let him stay missing.”

“That horse was just sitting there… no threat that I saw”

“Check the train station!”

“Sounds like everyone saw him at the train station, case closed.”

“I was with the owner of the horse. We got a great verifiable alibi.”

“F**k around and find out.”

“Don’t kick my horse, then? You f***in knobhead.”

“Any pig farms around??? Just saying.”

“He’d go missing real quick, too, if that were my horse.”

A few people on Facebook shared that they saw in some local horse groups that there is speculation he might have taken his own life, which is awful. Veterinary suicide is a real issue, and we hope that is not how this story ends. It’s also important to note that Shawna Gonzalez said that although what happened to her animal in the viral video was horrible, she would have never wished for this outcome.

“It’s horrible, I never, ever wished this upon him, I never wished this upon anybody.” 

As a horse owner myself, I do not condone this action at all, but I would also never wish for someone to be harmed or killed. Those calling for such should be ashamed.

However, should Frehner be found, he deserves to have his license to practice revoked, and I hope he receives maximum punishment for the animal cruelty case that Gonzalez opened against him prior to his disappearance.