The Internet Loved Watching Her Rescue Foxes… Until the Attacks That Ended Her Life

Mikayla Raines, founder of Save A Fox Rescue, was adored online for saving foxes from fur farms and abandoned pets, her videos reaching millions on YouTube and Instagram. But behind the heartwarming clips, she faced relentless cyberbullying and bitter attacks from within the very rescue world she devoted her life to. Friends say she absorbed every cruel word, and her husband recalls the unbearable weight she carried in silence…

Mikayla Raines—once celebrated as the “fox whisperer,” the founder of Save A Fox Rescue—has died by suicide, her husband confirmed in a heartbreaking statement. She was only 29 or 30, depending on sources. In the public eye, she was the champion of voiceless creatures—foxes born on fur farms, abandoned pets, wild animals no one else would claim. Her Instagram reels and YouTube videos showed her soothing quivering kits, nursing injured creatures to health, and arguing with city officials over rescue permits. But behind the scenes, an ugly war raged.

Friends, colleagues in the animal rescue community, and faceless internet trolls turned on her. The same voice that cheered when she saved an injured fox became ruthless when she challenged norms and broke rules. She faced harsh backlash about her methods—buying foxes from breeders, housing more than her local permit allowed, expanding fencing reportedly against regulation.Criticism that might have been bearable from strangers didn’t stop when it came from people she once trusted.

Her husband, Ethan Frankamp, has gone public with how deeply the cruelty stung. He said Mikayla “took negative comments very personally” and couldn’t escape the way they attacked her mission, her reputation, even her character.On social channels, there were whispers of “hoarder,” “reckless rescuer,” “rogue operator.” Some in her own field accused her of bending rules, of operating outside oversight. These attacks didn’t stay online—they followed her to meetings, permit hearings, emails, phone calls.

In the end, the weight of all that scrutiny grew too heavy. As her mental health struggles intensified—depression, autism, even borderline personality traits according to some reports —each scathing message cut deeper than the last. She once told interviewers that animals made sense to her when people didn’t. Her empathy was her gift—and also her vulnerability.