British Ex-Marine Does Not Give Up Until He Can Rescue Almost 200 Dogs And Cats From Kabul
Pen Farthing, a former Marine and member of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, created the charity Nowzad in 2007 and has dedicated his life to saving thousands of animals since then.
After receiving permission from UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, the guy has been working hard to get his crew and rescue animals out of Afghanistan, but it hasn’t been easy.
Following the fall of the Afghan government, the man began “Operation Ark,” a drive to try to safely transport his crew, as well as 200 cats and dogs, out of the country.
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According to iNews, Pen said:
“I need to get them out of here as soon as possible. I’m not going to abandon them. Everyone is scared of what the future holds, even myself.”
The father was in a frantic race against time to save himself, his 25 Afghan employees, and over 200 animals, fearful that if they couldn’t be evacuated, militants would kidnap his staff’s teenage children.
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Pen tried to gather about $200,000 to pay for a cargo jet and go to the United Kingdom. However, he needed to go through a number of legal hoops in order to get Afghan staff into the country.
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Pen confirms that everything is indeed awful, and he also expresses his dissatisfaction with his country’s administration, believing that everything he has battled for in the past has been in vain.
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Pen recalls arriving in Nowzad in 2006, and right there, in the middle of a quarrel, she met a dog who became her companion and whom she called Nowzad; the charity was established as a result of this touching incident.
To far, the sanctuary has rehomed over 1,700 animals, many of them were reunited with troops they met during the conflict. Moreover, throughout this period, the group has been able to teach over 500 veterinary students in Kabul.
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I was unable to accept all of the animals from the shelter, which include around 140 dogs, 40 cats, donkeys, horses, goats, and cows.
Pen also added:
“We’ll have to part ways. There isn’t any other choice, unfortunately. There are 140 dogs and only 65 slots in my kennel. Some of the older and more wounded pets will have to be put down.”
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Pen has kept his followers up to speed on his case via Facebook and other social media sites, and he has battled to complete his objective of relocating his crew and animals to a secure location.
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Unfortunately, a fighter accidently fired his weapon when he was waiting outside the airport with his animals and crew after passing through a Taliban checkpoint. In addition, his party had to witness the airport suicide bombs, which shook the area and killed roughly 12 US soldiers and 90 Afghans.
Pen had given up transporting her animals and workers out of the nation for a while owing to a decision by US President Joe Biden, who modified the regulations of who could enter the airfield, he claimed in an interview with the BBC.
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Pen also added:
“There’s nothing I can do about it. My staff has informed me that it is time for me to go. They do not believe that a foreigner is welcome in their country. I’ve been instructed to bring as many cats and dogs as possible by the staff. But I can’t get them through the Taliban checkpoints anymore.”
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Following this dramatic scenario and the passage of time, the Nowzad charity announced that Pen, together with the rescued animals, was ultimately safe outside of Kabul. He was, however, compelled to quit his team.
On his Facebook page, Nowzad wrote:
“We are relieved to report that Pen and the Nowzad animals have safely exited Afghanistan.” However, we still have a lot of work to do because our fantastic Kabul team was not permitted to pass the last checkpoint.”