Canadian Animal Lovers Are Rescuing Hundreds Of Dogs From U.S. Shelters

The rescue society plans to fly 120 animals back on Nov. 7.

A group of animal lovers in Vancouver is saving 120 dogs from high-kill shelters in California and flying them to Vancouver to be adopted.

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Thank Dog I Am Out will bring the dogs to a hangar near the Vancouver Airport on Nov. 7, where 150 pre-approved people will walk about the "doggy-topia" and play with the dogs until they find the right one to take home.

“The last thing we want is someone just grabbing a dog because they can,” TDIAO founder Susan Patterson told BuzzFeed Canada.

Susan Patterson / Thank Dog I Am Out

"We want to make sure the dog is complementary to their lifestyle and not just based on the cuteness of the dog,” she said.

About 300 volunteers have already vetted all the potential adopters and checked their homes to make sure they're pet-friendly. There are also hundreds more people on the waiting list to adopt a rescued dog.

TDIAO focuses on dogs that weigh 30 pounds or less, mostly to accommodate adopters from the lower mainland in B.C., where space is limited.

The dogs will come from shelters in Los Angeles County, where about 600 dogs are euthanized each day because of lack of space, Patterson said.

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The rules on spaying and neutering pets in California aren't strict enough, Patterson said, which leads to lots of unwanted pets and strays that end up having to be put down.

Many of the dogs in this rescue mission will come from the Imperial Humane Society in El Centro, which has a strict no-kill policy but is over capacity at the moment. A local vet from San Bernardino has also been offering his services to spay and neuter the animals, and do full medical checks, for a fraction of the regular cost.

"The Imperial Humane Society and Dr. [George] Bishay are really the boots on the ground who are doing the heavy lifting in saving these dogs," Patterson said.

Thank Dog I Am Out got its start in 2009, when Patterson couldn't find a smaller dog in any B.C. shelters. Eventually she started looking in California and Washington, where she was shocked to learn how many dogs are put down each week for lack of homes.

Susan Patterson / Thank Dog I Am Out

She says fell in love with a Chihuahua mix, Homer, who had a damaged back leg from being abused as a puppy. Since that day, she has devoted most of her free time to rescuing other dogs like him.

She said Thank Dog I Am Out has saved over 500 dogs since 2009 from being put down at overcrowded U.S. shelters.

“I never sat down and decided I wanted to rescue dogs," Patterson said. "It just happened.”

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To find out more, see the Thank Dog I Am Out website.