{"id":2435760,"date":"2025-05-16T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/coroner-announces-cause-of-death-for-veterinarian-found-dead-after-viral-horse-abuse-video\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T18:01:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T22:01:13","slug":"coroner-announces-cause-of-death-for-veterinarian-found-dead-after-viral-horse-abuse-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/coroner-announces-cause-of-death-for-veterinarian-found-dead-after-viral-horse-abuse-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Coroner Announces Cause of Death for Veterinarian Found Dead After Viral Horse Abuse Video"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcoroner-announces-cause-of-death-for-veterinarian-found-dead-after-viral-horse-abuse-video%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2435760&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Shawn Frehner, a veterinarian from Nevada, was found dead in April after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/obamas-longest-serving-cabinet-member-confirmed-to-bidens-cabinet\/\" title=\"Obama\u2019s Longest-Serving Cabinet Member Confirmed To Biden\u2019s Cabinet\">video surfaced showing<\/a> him allegedly abusing a horse. Officials stated that he likely committed suicide by drowning, as resolute by the Clark County Coroner. During the autopsy, Pentobarbital, a euthanasia drug, was found in his system.<\/p>\n<p>Frehner&#8217;s actions sparked widespread backlash, leading to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/veterinarian-found-dead-after-going-viral-for-abusing-horse-on-video\/\" title=\"... ... After Going Viral for ... ... on ...\">animal abuse charges<\/a>.In a now<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >-deleted social media post<\/a>, he claimed his intention was not to harm the horse but to reposition it for treatment. Following increased scrutiny and receiving death threats, Frehner disappeared, leaving behind his truck near Lake Mead. His body was later discovered in the lake&#8217;s recreational area.<\/p>\n<p>The incident was particularly distressing for the horse&#8217;s owner, Shawna Gonzalez, who expressed sorrow over the outcome. This was not an isolated case, as Frehner had a previous record of appearing to abuse another horse in a different video.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Shawn Frehner, the Nevada veterinarian found dead <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/veterinarian-found-dead-going-viral-abusing-horse-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in April<\/a> after a viral video appeared to show him abusing a horse, likely committed suicide, officials said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>The Office of the Clark County Coroner and Medical Examiner determined that Frehner died by drowning, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktnv.com\/news\/coroner-local-veterinarian-found-dead-at-lake-mead-drowned-had-euthanasia-drug-in-his-system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KTNV-TV<\/a> in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>He also had <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC6314932\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pentobarbital<\/a> in his system, a sedative used for euthanizing animals.<\/p>\n<p>Frehner went viral in early April after a video showed him appearing to kick a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/scientists-cooking-super-horses-lab-first-five-already-alive-stabled\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">horse<\/a> in the face.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Dr. Shawn D. Frehner, a Las Vegas vet, is under fire after a video of him kicking a horse<br \/> went viral.<\/p>\n<p>There is NO excuse for the abuse of any animal. Didn&rsquo;t he take an oath to protect animals?<\/p>\n<p>Just gross!! &#129324;<\/p>\n<p>There is NO excuse for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AnimalAbuse?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AnimalAbuse<\/a> EVER!! &#128683;<\/p>\n<p>PS. He has since&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jdG6pL1A04\">pic.twitter.com\/jdG6pL1A04<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; PROTECT ALL WILDLIFE (@Protect_Wldlife) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Protect_Wldlife\/status\/1910406970542006413?\">April 10, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Following a stampede of online criticism and anger, Frehner took to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/fugitive-taunts-law-enforcement-social-media-quickly-regrets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> to make a statement, which he later deleted.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video. That was not my intention at all,&rdquo; Frehner wrote. &ldquo;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.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;But yes, I did kick him right in the chin. And I very much do apologize and wish this never happened,&rdquo; he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Days after the incident, and faced with animal abuse charges, Frehner disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after that, investigators discovered his abandoned truck &mdash; along with his wallet, cell phone, and keys &mdash; parked on the Nevada side of Lake Mead.<\/p>\n<p>Frehner&rsquo;s father said it was strange that his son parked the truck there, considering he didn&rsquo;t own a boat, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-14718053\/Veterinarian-Shawn-Frehner-suicide-beating-horse.html?ns_mchannel=rss&amp;ns_campaign=1490&amp;ito=social-twitter_mailonline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.K.&rsquo;s Daily Mail<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>He grew increasingly concerned for the safety of his son, who had received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/breaking-former-fbi-director-james-comey-calling-assassination-president-trump-dems-cheer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">death threats<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>On April 18, the park service discovered Frehner&rsquo;s body near the Boulder Islands, inside the lake&rsquo;s recreation area.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s horrible, I never, ever wished this upon him, I never wished this upon anybody,&rdquo; Shawna Gonzalez, the woman who owned the horse Frehner kicked, said of the incident. &ldquo;This is not what I wanted in the end at all.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\"> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z_pZwk4tRyk?si=3G0yZK0Tp6KY_1Ew&amp;start=33\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The kicking incident wasn&rsquo;t Frehner&rsquo;s first.<\/p>\n<p>Another video showed him appearing to abuse another horse.<\/p>\n<p>After a normal procedure of flushing the animal&rsquo;s nose with a syringe, Frehner then appeared to smack the horse in the face before walking off.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shawn Frehner, a Nevada veterinarian who was found dead in April following the release of a viral video that appeared to show him mistreating a horse, likely took his own life, officials reported on Wednesday. The Clark County Coroner and Medical Examiner&#8217;s Office concluded that Frehner drowned and had Pentobarbital, a euthanasia sedative, in his system. The video surfaced in early April and showed him seemingly kicking a horse in the face. After facing significant backlash online, Frehner issued a statement on social media-later deleted-claiming he did not intend to harm the horse but was trying to reposition it for better breathing. Following animal abuse charges against him, he vanished; authorities later found his abandoned truck near Lake Mead along with personal belongings inside. His body was discovered by park service personnel on April 18 near Boulder Islands within the lake&#8217;s recreational area. Shawna Gonzalez, the owner of the horse involved in the incident, expressed her sorrow over Frehner&#8217;s death and stated she never wished such an outcome for anyone. This incident wasn&#8217;t isolated; another video had previously shown him appearing to hit another horse after performing a routine procedure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2435761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Horse-Vet.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38906,55414,13488],"class_list":["post-2435760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cause-of-death","tag-coroner-2","tag-veterinarian"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Horse-Vet.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2435760"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2435764,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2435760\/revisions\/2435764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2435761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2435760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2435760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2435760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}