Just in are a couple of tweets from the Ministry of Defence of the UK government which are self-explanatory but note the use of the word ‘pets’. These are more than pets. They are support animals.
UPDATE Aug 28, 2021: I believe that Farthing and the animals are inside the airport waiting to evacuate but he was forced to leave his staff behind. That is the latest. He will fly to the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent initially as I understand it before flying to the UK. He was assisted by the UK armed forces. The privately funded chartered aircraft is at Karachi, Pakistan. When it lands at Kabul the British military will load the animals and Farthing.
LATEST: PEN FARTHING AND 94 DOGS AND 79 CATS HAVE LEFT AFGHANISTAN AT 4:30 PM YESTERDAY 28TH AUG SATURDAY FOR UZBEKISTAN (BELIEVED). HE LEFT WITHOUT HIS STAFF. CLICK THIS LINK FOR A POST ON THIS. – read on, please, for detail on the lead up to the evacuation.
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This has been an almighty struggle by Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing, a former Royal Marine Commando, who founded Nowzad. He has managed to get the UK government to agree clearance to evacuate in a chartered aircraft funded privately. That aircraft was at Luton Airport until very recently I believe. If that is true it will be a while before it reaches Hamid Karzai International Airport and before he leaves. The animals will be in carriers and stressed. But there is hope. I’d expect further obstacles due to poor communication and rogue Taliban elements. Plus, the threat of further suicide bombs. It is hell.
If this pans out it is great news. There was despair at one stage. I suspect we can thank Carrie Johnson for pulling levers. Thanks Carrie. You are a star. These animals are not pets. They are support and therapy animals due to be shipped to the military personnel who rescued them and who became attached to them in Afghanistan. Nowzad reunites these animals with military personnel when they fly back to the states or I presume the UK and other countries.
The animals and staff (many women) were in danger in Afghanistan as the Taliban cannot be trusted. They dislike dogs but accept cats. Pen Farthing was probably in danger too being an invading foreigner. It’ll be tough for the animals of Kabul as Nowzad is a world-famous animal rescue – not just dogs and cats. I presume it will be closed and there will be no replacement. However, the remaining staff may run it for the future benefit of animals in need. Although, Nowzad was set up to reunite military personnel with their support animals when they returned to their country of origin – usually the US.
P.S. 182 people including 13 US military personnel were killed in the suicide bomb. It is horrendous. Mind boggling and tragic. The West should never have gone into Afghanistan in the first place 20 years ago. The project was doomed. Trying to introduce a Western democracy into a tribal country was foolhardy and costly in terms of lives and financial cost.
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