[Photo: carved dog sculpture, Campbell River, Vancouver Island. Photo: Oleksandr Kondrashov.]
I took this photograph in Campbell River, on the island Jesse Adams called home. I did not know then that I would use it to say goodbye to him.
Jesse was killed in Ukraine in October 2026 while rescuing animals during Russia’s war against Ukraine (Amy’s Bunny Barn Society, 2026; Humanity for Horses Sanctuary, 2026). He co-founded RainCoast Dog Rescue Society and led it as executive director on Vancouver Island, and by 2023 he had given 16 years to rescue work (Judd & Stanton, 2023). In June 2022, on his second trip to Ukraine, he worked with Breaking the Chains to move nine lions out of the warzone from a zoo in Odesa (Strain, 2024).
In his last weeks he worked with Порятунок тварин Харків (Poriatunok tvaryn Kharkiv, Animal Rescue Kharkiv) in Druzhkivka and near Kramatorsk. He walked kilometres under drones to reach frightened dogs and carried sedated animals back to safety. He helped a family move their cows, calves, pig, dogs and cats so they could leave their village together. When his team found an elderly woman in medical distress on a city bench, they drove her to a hospital, then went back for the animals (Adams, 2026a, 2026c, 2026d). He wrote that they took these risks because they would want someone to do the same for them.
His last words to us carry his values: “For the animals. For the people. For freedom. For Ukraine” (Adams, 2026b).
As a Canadian born in Ukraine, I carry deep gratitude for people like Jesse. He was not obliged to go. He went because he believed every life matters, and because Ukrainians and their animals needed someone to show up. His friends remember him rescuing animals on Vancouver Island, across Canada, and around the world.
To his family, his friends, the RainCoast community, and the Ukrainian rescuers who stood beside him: we grieve with you.
Вічна пам’ять (Vichna pam’iat, eternal memory), Jesse. We will remember what you gave, and we will keep standing with Ukraine in your memory.
Love. Care. Share.
References
Adams, J. (2026a, September 25). On this day, we entered the frontline city of Druzhkivka in Eastern Ukraine to evacuate 53 animals [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/jesse.adaams.1984
Adams, J. (2026b, October 18). For the animals. For the people. For freedom. For Ukraine [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/jesse.adaams.1984
Adams, J. (2026c, October). By any means necessary: This was a long and very hot day on our rescue and evacuation mission in Druszhkivka [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/jesse.adaams.1984
Adams, J. (2026d, October). On this evacuation mission, we went to a small village outside of Kramatorsk in Eastern Ukraine [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1765132324764912/
Amy’s Bunny Barn Society. (2026, October). It is with heavy hearts that we at Amy’s Bunny Barn Society share that our friend Jesse Adams [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/amysbunnybarn/posts/pfbid0cuQUzQqSiBqszVQErPYkeaDv6eQSs1VWVWQXwUgncy3ESMmqjvBCS6hzk7YFtZySl
Humanity for Horses Sanctuary. (2026, October). Our hearts are absolutely shattered tonight, horse lovers [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/Humanityforhorsesfoundation/posts/pfbid02ukHii43KYenYdahHgPmXAJv8GPnP7WBehTZd4WDVrPD5vJvchuXgogcia3Pd7fQVl
Judd, A., & Stanton, K. (2023, September 7). Increasing costs forcing families to surrender pets, B.C. rescue groups say. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/9945270/animal-rescue-groups-bc-surrender-pets-cost-of-living/
Strain, B. (2024, February 6). ‘Experience of a lifetime’: Animal rescue founder recounts extracting 9 lions from Ukrainian zoo. CTV News Vancouver Island. https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/vancouver-island/article/experience-of-a-lifetime-animal-rescue-founder-recounts-extracting-9-lions-from-ukrainian-zoo/
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