Pen Farthing, a former Royal Navy member in the United Kingdom, founded the charity Nowzad in 2007 and has since dedicated his life to saving thousands of animals. Pen, on the other hand, is in a desperate scramble to get her animals and locals to safety due to the current situation in Afghanistan.
At its Kabul facility, Nowzad employs more than 25 Afghans and houses more than 200 rescued animals. Because he is concerned about their uncertain future in this country, Pen has made every effort to remove them.
iNews quoted Pen as saying:
"I have to get them out of here as quickly as possible," says the narrator. I'm not going to leave them alone. Everyone, including me, is terrified of what the future holds."
Despite the difficulty of the situation, the former marine has created Operation Ark to raise funds for the evacuation.
The man is attempting to raise $200,000 to cover the cost of a cargo plane ticket to the United Kingdom. However, he requires the assistance of his political partners to fulfill several legal procedures in order to allow Afghan soldiers to enter the nation. Several news outlets reported that the Foreign Minister called Pen to offer aid, but no official confirmation has been given. Furthermore, the man wants all of his employees' families, as well as the bulk of the animals in the region, to be evacuated.
Pen continued :
"I'm not sure what will happen to the young Afghan girls," says one of my colleagues, "since my staff has teenage daughters..."
The situation is critical, especially given the fact that there are just a few days left to make a choice or find a solution that would benefit everyone. The truth is that anxiety is rising as a result of the terrible images presented on television about the situation in Kabul.
Pen believes that Western governments have failed the Afghan people and have left them to fend for themselves, describing the situation as "devastating." He also expresses his unhappiness with the governance of his nation, claiming that all he had previously battled for had been in vain.
Pen's comment:
"It makes me feel bad to confess that I'm British." This is a masterclass in how to completely isolate a country from the rest of the world." The man arrived in the city of Nowzad in 2006, when he met a dog that became his comrade in the midst of a war.
She named the young dog Nowzad and decided to adopt him to begin a new life with him; as a result of this occurrence, the Nowzad charity was created.
Over 1,700 animals have been rehomed at the facility so far, with many of them reuniting with fighters they met in the midst of combat. Furthermore, the group has been able to instruct approximately 500 veterinary students in Kabul throughout the years.
The mission of Pen's organization has benefited not just animals in need, but also the general public.
Pen and his wife Kaisa had been visiting Kabul on a regular basis from their home in Exeter, but had been in the pandemic shelter for the last year. They took advantage of the chance to expand their facilities and build one of the country's best veterinary clinics, but their ambitions were destroyed.
The situation in Afghanistan is tumultuous, and Pen now has severe choices.