Veterinarian found dead two weeks after he was caught kicking, choking horse

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A Nevada veterinarian who was wanted by authorities after a social media posting showed him abusing a horse has been found dead.

A body recovered from Lake Mead on Friday was confirmed to be that of 56-year-old Shawn Frenher, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.

Frehner disappeared on April 6 after he was captured on camera abusing a horse he had been contacted to help.

Shawna Gonzalez filmed Frehner kicking her horse, Big Red, in the jaw after being called out to administer anesthetic shots for some horses on her property in Pahrump, Nev., when she was shocked by what she  witnessed.

“I heard [my mother] yell, ‘Oh my God. He just kicked him,’” Gonzalez told KLAS before Frehner’s disappearance and discovery of his body.

Gonzalez ran to her mother’s window and looked out but didn’t see anything but a colt struggling to breathe.

“’Oh my god, Mom, he’s choking,’” Shawna recalled saying. “He wrapped the horse around his neck (with a rope) three times, and he kicked him in the head.”

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The injured horse was eventually taken to another equine centre where it was treated for abrasions to its skull and unnecessary injuries from the beating.

“[Frehner] left my property before my horse was even up,” Gonzalez told the outlet.

“My horse was still down for a good 45 minutes after he left and before he left,” she added, noting that “several people” were on the property and noticed Frehner took off.

Gonzalez contacted animal control, which directed her to contact the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.

She filed charges against Frehner for animal cruelty.

Video of Frehner kicking the horse was widely shared online, prompting the vet to defend himself in a Facebook post, stating the video did not provide the full context. But he also apologized for hurting the animal.

“I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video. That was not my intention at all,” Frehner wrote, according to KLAS.

“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.”

He admitted: “But yes I did kick him right in the chin and I very much do apologize and wish this never happened.”

Gonzalez said that she had been using Frehner’s services since last August.

Frehner was facing felony animal abuse charges at the time of his disappearance.

His truck and personal belongings were discovered near the edge of the reservoir last week.

No cause of death has been revealed.