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 since dedicated his life to saving thousands of animals.

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.

Pen said to iNews:

“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.

Pen struggled to gather over $200,000 to pay for a cargo jet and go to the United Kingdom. He did, however, need a number of legal processes to enable Afghan personnel into the nation.

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.

Pen recalls arriving in Nowzad in 2006 and meeting a dog who became her buddy and whom she called Nowzad in the middle of a conflict; the charity was established as a result of this emotional event.

To far, the sanctuary has rehomed over 1,700 animals, many of which were reunited with troops they met during the conflict. During this period, the group has also able to teach over 500 veterinary students in Kabul.

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 continued:

“We’ll have to part ways. There is no other alternative, unfortunately. I have 140 dogs and only 65 places. Some of the older and more wounded pets will have to be put down.”

Pen has kept his followers up to speed on his case via Facebook and other social media sites, and he has struggled to complete his objective of getting his crew and animals to a secure location.

Unfortunately, a fighter accidently fired his weapon when he was waiting outside the airport with his animals and employees after passing through a Taliban checkpoint. In addition, his crew had to witness the airport suicide bombs, which shook the area and killed roughly 12 US personnel 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 may visit the airfield, he claimed in an interview with the BBC.

Pen continued:

“There’s nothing I can do about it. My staff has informed me that it is time for me to go. A foreigner is not welcome here, they believe. I’ve been requested to bring as many cats and dogs as possible. But I can’t get them through the Taliban checkpoints anymore.”

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 leave 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 crew was denied passage through the last barrier.”