B.C. animal rescuer killed by drone in Ukraine while evacuating animals

Analysis

Jesse Adams, a British Columbia man who co-founded a dog rescue society, was killed in a drone attack in eastern Ukraine on Sunday while evacuating animals. Adams, a volunteer with Animal Rescue Kharkiv, was in a vehicle that had just been loaded with rescued animals in the city of Kramatorsk when it was struck. The organization said an enemy first-person view drone attacked the vehicle, severely injuring Adams, who later died in hospital despite emergency surgery. Animal Rescue Kharkiv said there are hundreds of animals alive today because of his work, calling him a kind and compassionate man.

"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," the organization posted on social media. Adams, who grew up in Oak Bay and Sooke, was the co-founder of the RainCoast Dog Rescue Society, a volunteer-run charity he helped start in 2014. The society posted that Adams made "the ultimate sacrifice to his beliefs on the front lines of Ukraine." His cousin, Mat Patenaude, said Adams dedicated his life to helping animals and people in need, often working with Indigenous communities and taking on difficult cases others had given up on.

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A life spent in service to animals

Colleagues and friends in the animal rescue community described Adams as a relentless and compassionate force. Penny Stone, executive director of the Victoria Humane Society, called him a "go-to guy" who was always ready to help. "There was no animal too small, too big, too scary, too aggressive," Stone said. She noted that even while in Ukraine, Adams was still managing adoptions and taking calls for his own rescue society back in Canada. Stone said he died a hero and was doing what he loved. She said he believed every animal and every person deserved a chance and he never backed down from fighting for the little guy.

Adams's work extended far beyond Vancouver Island. Lori Kalef, director of programs for SPCA International and a longtime friend, said he was instrumental in evacuating nearly 300 dogs and cats from Afghanistan in 2021 when the Taliban took over. Kalef said Adams helped plan a temporary shelter at Vancouver International Airport for those animals. "Every single animal was 'muffin' or 'sweetheart,'" Kalef said. "Every single dog that was blind or deaf, he handled with the utmost love, like they were his animals." Emma Hamill, regional manager of animal care services for the B.C. SPCA, said Adams had a gift for building relationships and helping vulnerable people and animals together, particularly in remote areas.

Final mission in a dangerous region

In the days before his death, Adams had posted on social media about his work near the front line. On Oct. 23, he wrote that he was helping evacuate animals from a village outside Kramatorsk, an area he described as "super close" to the front line and hit daily by drones, bombs and missiles. He said the group was evacuating cows, dogs, cats and a pig for a family who refused to leave without their animals. Adams wrote that a drone hit a house down the road from them during the loading process, and another flew directly overhead. "Thankfully, we were not chosen as a target in this moment," he wrote.

On the day of his final mission, Oct. 27, Adams posted that he was heading out on another rescue in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces have been attempting to seize Kramatorsk, a key city in the Donetsk region, for much of this year. Local officials reported that on that day, the Russian military fired on 16 civilian targets in Kramatorsk over a period of nearly 20 hours, injuring 14 people including three children. A spokesperson for Animal Rescue Kharkiv told Ukrainian media that Adams had been volunteering with the organization since May. The rescue group estimated that Adams and his team had evacuated as many as 1,000 animals from Ukraine, in addition to thousands more in Canada.

Friends reflected on the immense void his death leaves. Savannah Eanes, who adopted a dog from RainCoast, said Adams was the heart of the charity. "They do so much good and so much advocacy and fundraising and to lose the beating heart of that ... it's hard to think about, you know, what's next for RainCoast," she said. Michelle Singleton, founder of A Home for Hooves Farm Sanctuary near Duncan, B.C., said Adams had amazing relationships with Indigenous communities on Vancouver Island and would take on cases involving incredibly sick or abused animals. Kalef, while acknowledging the huge hole left by his death, expressed hope for the future. "I do believe that there is going to be a path forward," she said.

With files from CBC News, Global News and The Globe and Mail