Mikayla Raines, animal rescue YouTuber, dies by suicide, husband says in video
This article discusses suicide and suicidal ideation. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
Mikayla Raines, an animal rescuer who shared her work on YouTube, has died by suicide, her husband Ethan Raines shared on Monday.
In a nearly 12-minute video titled, "An unimaginable loss for the rescue," Ethan said Mikayla had taken her life as a result of mental illness and harassment she faced online.
Since 2009, Raines had maintained a YouTube channel for her animal rescue, Save a Fox Rescue, located in Rice County, Minnesota. The channel's following grew to more than 2.4 million subscribers.
"Mikayla was the most bright and shining example of what you could accomplish if you really set your mind to something," Ethan said in the video. "She was never held back by ideas everyone else considered unrealistic."
Ethan explained in the video that in recent years, people online, including owners of other animal rescues, had begun to spread "claims and rumors" about Mikayla and Save a Fox.
"Being the sensitive human that she was, Mikayla took it all to heart. And it hurt her. It hurt her a lot," Ethan said. "If you only have negative garbage to say, just shut up. And if you are feeling lost and hopeless, please reach out to someone, whether it's friends and family or calling a hotline."
USA TODAY has reached out to the Rice County Sheriff's Office for more information about Mikayla's death.
Who was Mikayla Raines?
Mikayla established her nonprofit, Save a Fox, in 2017, with the intention of saving foxes from the fur trade industry. According to the rescue's website, the rescue has saved about 150 foxes from death over the past eight years. Once foxes are brought into the rescue and nursed back to health, many were available for adoption. Save a Fox also works with cats and minks.
In addition to sharing videos of how to care for various animals, Mikayla discussed living with autism on social media.
Mikayla also suffered from depression and borderline personality disorder, Ethan said in the YouTube video. She spent years in and out of different kinds of therapy, trying various different types of medication, he added.
"She put the animals' wellbeing over her own time and time again. She would forgo sleep, eating and showering if there was an animal that needed her help. Despite her pouring out all of her love for the animals, she still found some love to give to me," Ethan said in the video, while choking up.
Mikayla was also a mother of a young daughter named Freya.
Animal rescue community mourns loss
Since Ethan's YouTube video posted on Monday, countless followers and animal rescues across the country have shared their condolences.
"This week, the rescue world lost a bright light. Mikayla didn't just rescue animals – she moved mountains for them," South Carolina based KJ Farms Animal Rescue wrote in a social media post on Monday.
KJ Farms explained in the post that Mikayla has recently started a financial campaign for Save a Fox to rescue about 500 foxes from a fox farm. But Mikayla's efforts to save the foxes was met with online criticism.
"Anyone in rescue knows what it feels like to say, 'Yes,' from your heart, even when your head is screaming, 'How?' She scrambled for space. For homes. For medical help. For funding. And when things got hard, the judgment rolled in faster than the support ever did," KJ Farms wrote. "Some of the very people who should've stood by her – other rescuers – joined the mob instead."
The campaign remains on the Save a Fox website and YouTube channel. As of June 24, more than 117,000 had been raised, of a $700,000 goal.
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
9 hours ago
- USA Today
'He said that he was Jesus': Police release details on deadly Texas Target shooting
The three people killed outside a Target in Austin, Texas, on Aug. 11 were identified, including a 4-year-old and a store employee. The man suspected of fatally shooting three people, including a child, in a Target parking lot in Austin, Texas, told police that he was Jesus and obtained a firearm through a family member despite a history of mental health issues, authorities said. Police identified the shooter as Ethan Nieneker, 32, and said that he began his attack by fatally shooting Target employee Hector Leopoldo Martinez Machuca as he collected shopping carts on Aug. 11. Nieneker then ran up to a gray Toyota 4-Runner, and fatally shot Adam Chow and his 4-year-old granddaughter before pushing Chow's wife from the vehicle, police said in a news release. Chow's wife survived with minor injuries. "What happened yesterday was an unprovoked and deliberate attack, a deliberate act of violence," Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said on Aug. 12. "Innocent lives were taken in broad daylight, in a place where people should feel safe to run their everyday errands and to live their everyday lives." USA TODAY is working to reach an attorney or family member who can speak on Nieneker's behalf. Chaotic timeline following deadly Target shooting Following the killings at 2:15 p.m. CT, police say that Nieneker stole Chow's car and made a chaotic getaway, assaulting multiple people and stealing cars along the way. Here's a timeline released by authorities: Charges, motive, and what we know about Ethan Nieneker Davis said Nieneker worked at a local restaurant and lived alone. He's been charged with two counts of capital murder and first-degree felony murder. Police said he will face more charges related to the subsequent assaults and carjackings. As for a motive, police Sgt. Nathan Sexton said there was "really no reason whatsoever given." "He said that he was Jesus," Sexton said. "It was a completely random choosing of the victims." Sexton said the handgun used in the attack was "acquired through family" and that the department was investigating possible charges against the family member. Davis said Nieneker's history with Austin police included assault causing bodily injury to a family member, driving under the influence, violation of a protective order, marijuana possession, and two mental health reports. "This man had some serious issues, and I think about the systems that failed in a way, as we move forward," she said. "We're looking at this background, and again, this is going to be things that are going to be coming up in the months and the years ahead. There were some serious failures here." 'Pain caused will be felt by our community for years to come' Davis declined to detail who failed Nieneker or exactly how, and said she did not know if he had been officially diagnosed. "What help are they getting when you're dealing with someone with these issues?" Davis asked. "Where does someone with this capacity to do this get a weapon? And when does a family member feel comfortable giving someone with these issues a weapon?" She called the case "a heartbreaking and deeply painful time for our city." "The actions of the suspect showed a complete disregard for human life," she added. "The pain caused will be felt by our community for years to come." Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at and follow her on X at @AmandaLeeUSAT
USA Today
10 hours ago
- USA Today
South Carolina lawmaker resigns after arrest on child sex abuse material charges
A state lawmaker in South Carolina resigned from his seat months after being arrested for alleged distribution of child sexual abuse material, the state's House speaker announced on Aug. 11. RJ May, a 38-year-old Republican state representative and former South Carolina House Freedom Caucus strategist, was accused of using the screen name 'joebidennnn69' on the social media network Kik to exchange 220 different files of toddlers and young children. 'I have decided that it is in the best interest of my family and constituents to resign immediately from the South Carolina House of Representatives,' reads a resignation letter sent from May to the state's House Speaker Murrell Smith and obtained by local media outlets, including the Post and Courier and South Carolina Daily Gazette. In a statement, the South Carolina House Freedom Caucus, which May helped found, said the resignation is 'long overdue.' 'The people of District 88 deserve true and honorable representation," the statement said. According to court records obtained by USA TODAY, May exchanged the explicit files across five days in spring 2024. The records say the files were uploaded and downloaded on May's home Wi-Fi network and on his cellphone. In a June press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, officials said May faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000 and five years of probation. May is being held at the Edgefield County jail, awaiting the start of his trial. May's legal representation did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on Aug. 12. Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
USA Today
11 hours ago
- USA Today
Anna Delvey breaks silence after dumped bunnies social media backlash
Anna Delvey is breaking her silence after being accused of dumping multiple rabbits used during a photoshoot in New York City. The "Dancing with the Stars" alum and convicted con artist took to her Instagram Story on Aug. 11 to address now-viral claims that she left two rabbits that were found abandoned in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. The backlash follows Delvey posting a photo carousel with the pair of bunnies and a companion video last week on social media. Delvey explained that a person named Christian Batty, who she described as a "member of the hair team I briefly met" during fashion week last year, had said he "knew someone who could lend us bunnies for a few hours." "I later discovered that, instead of borrowing animals from a legitimate source like (Batty) claimed, he had obtained them via Facebook Marketplace and intended to release them into Prospect Park," Delvey wrote in a lengthy note to fans. "(It was) a plan of which I had no knowledge," Delvey continued. "The idea that someone would compromise the well-being of innocent animals for personal networking opportunities is deeply disturbing to me." In an Aug. 12 statement to USA TODAY, Delvey said that "I'm appalled, and frankly terrified, by the violent threats and hundreds of vile, harassing messages flooding my social media." "I've provided overwhelming proof of my innocence, yet nothing seems to satisfy the performatively outraged masses whose only real aim is to churn hate in my comments and DMs," Delvey added. USA TODAY also reached out to reps for Jasper Egan Soloff, a photographer who worked on the shoot. According to People and The New York Times, Batty released statements on since-deleted social media pages addressing the incident and saying "I felt overwhelmed and made the worst possible choice." 'Dancing With the Stars' Anna Delvey elimination episode received historic fan votes Delvey (aka Anna Sorokin) is the real-life subject of the Netflix series "Inventing Anna" from Shonda Rhimes and served a prison sentence for swindling banks, hotels, and rich friends with a false reputation as a wealthy German heiress. Delvey said on Instagram that she was "appalled by what transpired," adding that "it's not my job to source or return animals" as talent. "But as an animal lover, I can promise I will never work with them again without knowing exactly where they came from and how they're getting home," she added. "I do not eat meat, and I had no involvement in the acquisition, transport or return of these animals. I would never condone these actions." After Delvey posted the photoshoot on social media, vegan influencer Terry Chao said in a post that she noticed that the bunnies from the photo were the same ones she had helped with two neighbors after she saw that there were lost bunnies found in the New York City park in a local Facebook group. "Animals are not props, they are beautiful, living things that we need to honor and cherish," Chao added.
