From rescuing lions in Ukraine to advocating for new animal welfare bylaws, Jesse Adams and RainCoast Dog Rescue are about more than just finding new homes for pets, though that’s still the best part.
“If I can take a dog that was in a really bad spot and watch them come back from that—watch them rehabilitate, open up, and be able to trust and love again—that is something that's always rewarding for me,” said Jesse Adams, who co-founded RainCoast Rescue, a nonprofit animal fostering service in Sooke, 11 years ago.
Adams has spent the last 16 years working in animal rescue while also serving in the Canadian Armed Forces. He says his love for animals came from his mother, who worked in government wildlife management for decades.
“We always had animals in the home. I was just taught and raised to treat animals with love, respect, and compassion. We had all sorts of animals at one point,” said Adams.
Adams says that in the years following COVID-19, running a rescue has been particularly difficult. During the pandemic, many people decided to adopt dogs without fully thinking it through, and when the world opened back up, they turned to rescuers to offload them.
“These are everyday people who got dogs and now just don’t want them. There are all sorts of reasons, and some of them are viable, but the majority of them are, unfortunately, just irresponsibility.”
While Adams said the work can be "extremely stressful–emotionally, physically and spiritually," he said it is a "great feeling to be able to help those in need."
For Adams and RainCoast Rescue, making pet ownership easier has always been as essential as finding animals a home. RainCoast offers resources beyond rescue service through the Pet Project.
“We get so much stuff donated that we can go into places like low-income homes, supportive housing units, remote communities, and Indigenous communities and offer free supplies, vet care, training, and education,” Adams said. While RainCoast didn’t create all these programs, they’re proud to provide for them, he said.
He’s also spent a great deal of time in local First Nations communities, providing spay and neuter clinics and speaking at various schools and universities.
One of Adams’ latest accomplishments with RainCoast involved partnering with the Cowichan Tribes community and UVic law students to develop a new framework of standards and bylaws for animal welfare.
“[They’re] very progressive, and I’m very proud of them. It will take time for everything to come about, like in any community, but I think it’s been great,” said Adams.
“They’ve been amazing to work with, and they’ve really been a leader for that kind of change."
More locally, Adams and RainCoast work with the Sooke Transition House Society, helping some women using their services who may need extra support for their animals, often by finding temporary placements.
“There are some transition houses that don’t allow animals, which makes it very difficult when someone doesn’t want to leave an animal behind out of fear they’d be at risk of being abused, just like their owner was.”
It’s safe to say Adams keeps himself busy caring for animals in Sooke, but he's also done so around the world, even travelled to Ukraine to rescue a group of lions from a zoo within a combat zone.
Thankfully, at home, even despite the epidemic of COVID-19 puppies, Adams says Sooke is a great place for dogs, and the owners are good too.
“There are so many people who support each other. You can just go on Sooke Social [Facebook] and post anything, and someone will be there to help you in a minute,” he said. He added that the best way Sooke residents can support animals is by being a voice.
“If you see something that doesn’t seem right—if you see something that seems abusive—don’t hold it in. Report it. Say something about it. Be vocal. Speak up for the ones that need our help.”
