Chaos in Kabul

When Afghanistan suddenly fell to the Taliban in August 2021, the West arranged a hasty evacuation from Kabul. Pen Farthing, Founder of the Nowzad animal rescue charity, found himself all over the UK media, falsely accused of using limited resources to get his animals out ahead of deserving people.

Pen explains what really happened during those fateful and chaotic few days.

“What you may recall is that the press pitted us against the UK Government with headlines like ‘Pets before people,’ but the reality was nothing like that.

"Funded purely from donations for what we called ‘Operation Ark’, we had secured our own plane to evacuate our staff, with room in the hold for our animals. To be clear, we weren’t using public resources or taking any useful space that people could have used. We just needed permission.

"It was a complex situation. The Brits controlled visas; the Taliban controlled access to the airport; the US military was managing the airspace and the airport.

"We secured paperwork for 67 people to leave, which included staff, spouses and children. When we got to the airport, the Taliban informed us that the US administration had decreed that no one could enter without a passport. Although we had permission to evacuate our people to the UK, none of them had passports. We knew then that we would have to get them out overland.

"By this time, we had wheels on the ground and the British military had left. I offered our spare capacity to the Americans, but they couldn’t make it work. I ended up ushering our animals into the hold and leaving Kabul with 230 empty seats on that aircraft. It was heartbreaking.

"There is a happy ending, however. We did get all of our people safely out with an arduous journey through Pakistan. They are all now resettled in the UK. The vets are retraining for UK practice, ready to help fill the critical skill shortage we have here. The kids, who couldn’t speak a word of English when they arrived, are now thriving at schools around the country.

"Back in Kabul, we reopened our donkey sanctuary and our clinic. Much of the work we do there now is in identifying dogs with rabies and running public awareness in the areas they are found. Around 1,000 people die of rabies in Afghanistan each year, so this is vital work.

"We work under the Taliban, and so far, that has been relatively straightforward. I visit around once a month without any real problems. I’m proud that Nowzad is continuing to make a positive contribution in what is undeniably a troubled land.”