After this video showing him kicking s horse in the face. Tsk…what a shame
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Wu Ming — 11 months ago(April 27, 2025 05:07 AM)
Food for thought.
When the Herd turns: Mob Mentality that killed a Veterinarian
Herd mentality. We usually hear the term in reference to finance, politics, or even high school social circles. But rarely do we pause to recognize just how dangerous it can be when the herd turns on one of its own.
It’s the thing that makes us click
"share"
before reading, and follow the loudest voices even when they’re wrong. Social media has made it easier than ever to join a movement, to add your voice to a chorus of outrage, or to throw a stone without ever seeing the target. In its most extreme form, this collective behavior becomes something far more insidious: a digital mob. It’s a force powerful enough to ruin lives.
And - as we were tragically reminded this week - to end one.
This week, Dr. Shawn Frehner, a respected Las Vegas-area veterinarian, was found dead in Lake Mead
after becoming the target of a vicious online campaign. His death has shaken the veterinary and horse community to its core. Not just for the personal tragedy it represents, but for what it reveals about the risks faced by those who care for big animals, and the increasing dangers of doing so in the public eye.
Frehner apparently had faced professional challenges in the past — local media reports that his veterinary license was suspended for one year in 2016 — but he returned to veterinary medicine, continuing to work with horses and livestock in high-risk, high-pressure environments.
Search for missing Las Vegas veterinarian, who was found dead at Lake Mead.
Two weeks before his body was found by searchers, Frehner was called to geld a largely unhandled, aggressive stud in Pahrump, Nevada. The scene he walked into was far from ideal — an anxious, dangerous horse in a poorly prepared setting. The colt bit, kicked, and thrashed, eventually flipping himself over. Everything that was happening was being caught on camera from a distance.
His actions
in the video
, which critics described as
"pure abuse"
went viral. In a Facebook post later made by Frehner, he defended himself, saying that in an effort to keep the animal breathing, he had used a leather boot to reposition the horse’s head, a move that may have saved the horse’s life. The sedation took effect, the procedure was completed, and the horse lived.
But a storm had already begun to gather.
The horse’s owner, from the safety of her home, appears to have waited with a camera in one hand and a potential lawsuit in the other. She filmed at least selective parts of Frehner’s procedure — including where the animal was kicked in the jaw while it was on the ground — and began posting inflammatory claims.
What the video didn’t show was the full scope of what happened — because it couldn’t. And now, the only person who could have truly explained the decisions made in those chaotic moments is gone. We’re left with a partial picture, filtered through shaky footage and amplified by outrage. But the truth … The whole truth? That died with Frehner, who most suspect took his own life, though an official cause has not yet been revealed by officials.
However, the digital crowd needed no convincing. They flooded comment sections with outrage, reviews with vitriol, and inboxes with threats. Most didn’t ask for context or care about nuance. They saw a clip and joined the hunt. Even now, people are celebrating Frehner’s death. The apparently now-defunct Facebook group
Dressage Hub Official
posted:
"Good. A win for Horses."
Other social media users have justified the death calling suicide
"the coward’s way out"
. One poster responded saying:
"I didn’t kill him. He killed himself. Maybe he thought he deserved to die."
There’s no denying that accountability matters. But so does compassion.
We can recognize systemic issues and still hold space for human tragedies.
To those who have never handled livestock
, the danger may be hard to grasp. But for anyone who’s worked a chute, shod a foot, or knelt in a stall with a sedated animal, the risks are real — and constant.
A thousand-pound animal doesn’t have to be malicious to be deadly. One misstep, one spook, one failed restraint, and lives can change forever. Vets, trainers, and farriers put themselves in harm’s way every day for animals that may never fully trust them and for owners who often take their work for granted.
Veterinarians — especially large animal vets — carry not just the physical burden of this work, but an emotional one, as well. The profession already has one of the highest suicide rates in the country.
Crushing debt, long hours, compassion fatigue, and an unrelenting wave of online criticism leave many professionals drowning.
And when the crowd turns, when the herd of angry commenters charges forward with no facts,
no compassion, and no pause — it’s no wonder some are choosing to walk away.
Others, like Frehner, never got the chance.
It’s important to acknowledge that even when done with care, professionalism, and a full understanding of animal behavior, th -
Wu Ming — 11 months ago(April 27, 2025 10:36 PM)
Tits Malone, PI April 28, 2025 02:57 AM
Member since July 1, 2023
I'm on the side of the animals, 100%. I support the animals kicking, stomping, and killing their abusers.
Sorry, that you hate yourself so much.
Apart from that:
You can continue to overrun me, you
Scheiße head
aka
WarrenPiss
.
If that makes you feel better, low life.
Have a good one.
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Wu Ming — 11 months ago(April 27, 2025 10:04 PM)
Cheeky April 28, 2025 02:59 AM
Member since November 16, 2019
Thank you for that
It was taken completely out of context
Justitia has a strong sword and for reasons she's blindfolded.
Justitia shouldn't get tricked by beautiful faces.
Much more important her motto (not verbatim):
"Please give me strength to judge AFTER I heard both sides." -
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Wu Ming — 11 months ago(April 27, 2025 11:53 PM)
Tits Malone, PI April 28, 2025 08:42 AM
Member since July 1, 2023
Yeah, and how do you excuse that slap on the horse's face the vet gave that horse in the stable when the horse wasn't even doing anything?
GFY
I don't excuse anything, I wasn't there.
He explained it, or he tried to.
You didn't even read it.
You're part of the mob. -
Tits Malone, PI — 11 months ago(April 28, 2025 12:33 AM)
Yes, I did read it.
I also saw surveillance of the vet slapping a horse on the face when it wasn't doing anything. He was cruel, abusive, and he got caught.
Donna/LadyGigi Savige needs to sit her ass down! -
Tits Malone, PI — 11 months ago(April 27, 2025 05:55 PM)
PSA: Don't trust your pets with anyone. I heard a groomer being mean to a dog she was grooming.
Some of these abusers are in that profession cos animals can't speak.
Donna/LadyGigi Savige needs to sit her ass down!
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