Dozens of U.S. ‘death row’ dogs were flown to Vancouver for a mass adoption last weekend – news that was celebrated but raised concerns about cross-border canines preventing B.C. dogs from finding forever homes.

Susan Patterson’s Vancouver-based organization Thank Dog I Am Out Rescue Society was responsible for the mass adoption, working with Landmark Aviation and Wings of Rescue to fly in more than100 dogs from shelters in California, where she says they would have been euthanized because of overcrowding.

Patterson told CTV News that she felt like “a kid on Christmas morning” during last Saturday’s event.

“It’s been the most amazing show of support for rescue,” said Patterson. “It’s mind-boggling, actually.”

Yet Paws for Hope Animal Foundation founder Kathy Powelson thinks this type of mass cross-border adoption may be keeping B.C. shelter dogs from finding permanent homes.

“We do advocate for local dogs first, and we have concerns around the hype around ‘death row’ dogs,” said Powelson. “We do have a homeless dog problem here. It's not as sexy, it's often we can't see [these dogs] because they are in remote communities that are hard to access.”

The BC SPCA agreed, noting that while there are many local dogs that need forever homes it can sometimes be challenging to find them.

“There are absolutely dogs in B.C. that need adoption,” said Dr. Emilia Gordon, BC SPCA senior manager of animal health. “There are all kinds of dogs available, but I do recognize that it can be hard to find them sometimes.”

TDIAO’s work helps address the demand for small dogs in British Columbia -- most of the cross-border dogs adopted last Saturday weigh 30 pounds or less.

Patterson said she always asks people to check with local shelters before adopting a dog through her rescue society, but notes people aren’t always able to find a dog that suits their lifestyle in B.C. shelters.

Her organization gets its dogs from California because that’s where situation for shelter animals is most dire, she adds, and because it’s where she has the connections and infrastructure to make such a project happen.

“We went to California because California was like, ‘hey we need help here,’” Patterson said, noting that she would love to facilitate a mass adoption for dogs in B.C. as well.

“We can bring the people we clearly have the people. Let’s get the dogs, let’s do it…All dogs deserve a real home, regardless of where they are from.”

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Shannon Paterson