World · Europe · 2 hrs ago
B.C. animal rescuer Jesse Adams killed in drone strike in Ukraine
Canadian animal rescuer Jesse Adams was killed in a drone strike in Ukraine while helping evacuate animals.
Adams, from Sooke, B.C., co-founded RainCoast Dog Rescue Society, a volunteer charity based on Vancouver Island.
He was working with Animal Rescue Kharkiv near Kramatorsk, an eastern city close to the front line in the war with Russia.
The group said an FPV drone hit the vehicle after it had been loaded with rescued animals.
Adams was taken to hospital for emergency surgery, but doctors could not save him.
His teams had evacuated as many as 1,000 animals from Ukraine, according to one estimate, and he also rescued animals across Canada.
Friends and animal welfare groups say his loss leaves a major gap in the rescue community.
RainCoast’s supporters believe the community can find a path forward, but no specific next steps were announced.
Canadian animal rescuer Jesse Adams was killed in a drone attack while evacuating animals in eastern Ukraine, according to Ukraine-based Animal Rescue Kharkiv.
Adams was taken to hospital for emergency surgery, but doctors were unable to save him.
He was the founder or co-founder of RainCoast Dog Rescue Society, based on Vancouver Island.
Animal rescue groups and colleagues remembered Adams for his work with animals and people in difficult conditions.
His team is estimated to have evacuated as many as 1,000 animals from Ukraine, Global News reported.
- Who
- Jesse Adams, a Canadian animal rescuer and founder of RainCoast Dog Rescue Society.
- What
- He was killed when a drone struck the vehicle he was using to evacuate animals.
- When
- Sunday. The articles were published on October 27, 2026.
- Where
- Near Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.
- Why
- He was evacuating animals from an area close to the front line.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Adams co-founded RainCoast Dog Rescue Society.
Adams posted that he was helping evacuate a family and their animals from a village outside Kramatorsk.
A drone struck the vehicle Adams was using to evacuate animals, and he later died in hospital.
- Rescue organization
- RainCoast Dog Rescue Society
- Rescue mission location
- Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine
- Death
- Sunday, in a drone attack
- Animals evacuated from Ukraine
- As many as 1,000, according to Global News
- Society co-founded
- 2014
4 sources
What people are saying
The best thing I can say is Jesse was a force of nature
There are hundreds of animals alive today because of him.
An enemy FPV [first-person view] drone attacked our vehicle, which had just been loaded with rescued animals
He's like a puppy angel on earth.