The founder of a Canadian dog rescue association has been killed in Ukraine amid fighting in the country’s eastern Donbas region, where he had been working to evacuate animals and the owners who refused to leave them behind. Jesse Adams, who launched the RainCoast Dog Rescue Society on Vancouver Island in 2014, had returned this summer to the war-torn country, where he previously helped rescue nine lions from an abandoned zoo in the city of Odesa. Adams had been working with Animal Rescue Kharkiv, a Ukraine-based shelter and advocacy group, when the vehicle he was in came under attack near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on Oct. 25, according to the agency. “An enemy FPV drone attacked our vehicle, which had just been loaded with rescued animals,” the group wrote in a statement Tuesday. “Striking the windshield, Jesse sustained severe injuries and was immediately taken to a local hospital. Doctors performed resuscitation efforts and emergency surgery, but tragically, despite their best efforts, they were unable to save his life.” The organization is one of dozens of agencies now honouring Adams with online messages and memorials commending his work. “When someone travels halfway around the world and chooses to work beside you in some of the most difficult conditions, it means more than words can say,” Animal Rescue Kharkiv wrote on Facebook. “There are hundreds of animals alive today because of him.” In one of his final social media posts on Oct. 23, Adams described a recent mission to help a family near Kramatorsk, where some of the most intense fighting of the war is currently underway. The family “refused to leave their home in this very dangerous area,” Adams wrote, “until they knew their animals could come with and be relocated with them to a safer place.” Video of the rescue shows Adams and other volunteers loading cows into a trailer as the sound of an explosion is heard. “A drone had hit a house just down the road from us,” Adams wrote. “Another had flown right over top of us as we moved to find cover.” ‘Jesse knew the risks’ Global Affairs Canada has not responded to a request for comment about the Canadian man’s death. The federal government urges Canadians to avoid all travel to Ukraine due to the ongoing Russian military invasion and warns that access to Canadian consular services in the country is severely limited. Penny Stone, the executive director of the Victoria Humane Society, remembers Adams as a “force to be reckoned with” who would go to any length to help an animal. “It didn’t matter if it was a chinchilla, if it was a dog, if it was a cat,” Stone said in an interview Tuesday. “He just never stopped. There’s a lot of people in the rescue world that talk the talk, but Jesse walked the walk.” Adams was motivated in part by his Ukrainian heritage, according to the Ukrainian-Canadian Cultural Centre of Vancouver Island. “His loss is heartbreaking, and his dedication will not be forgotten,” the Victoria-based foundation said in a statement. Longtime friend Luisa Skolik says Adams was outspoken about the war and the injustices he witnessed in Ukraine. “He knew pretty well that he might die when he goes over there,” she said Tuesday from the Victoria-area farm where she looks after a horse rescued by Adams. “He always said that he’d rather die doing what he believed in than live a life and do nothing.” War Paws, a U.K.-based charity that rescues and rehomes animals from conflict zones, says Adams first came to the group’s attention in 2021, when RainCoast helped a local veterinary clinic evacuate hundreds of dogs and cats from Afghanistan. “These were extraordinary acts of compassion and courage in the face of unimaginable danger,” the agency wrote in a statement. “Jesse knew the risks. He knew every mission could be his last. Yet, he continued because he believed animals caught in conflict deserved protection just as much as those living in peace.” Adams made at least four trips to Ukraine to rescue animals in the wake of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. “How honourable is it that he ended up losing his life doing what he loved to do, following his passion and working hard to save animals and people from horrific situations?” said Stone. “This man died honourably. He’s a hero.”
