Pen Farthing’s rescued dogs have begun their quarantine at a sanctuary in Britain amid a mounting war of words over how 150 British nationals and scores of translators were left behind in warzone Afghanistan whilst the ex-Royal Marine’s animals made it out of the country.
As photographs showed the scores of dogs being taken by animal sanctuary staff to an undisclosed location for their legally required quarantine, critics of the evacuation questioned how the dogs made it to the UK whilst as many as 5,000 people with a right to settle in the UK were abandoned in Kabul.
Ex-Royal Marine Pen Farthing landed in Heathrow on a charter flight with around 200 dogs and cats at the weekend and then took a connecting flight to Norway to see his wife Kaisa Markhus.
Major James Bolter, a reservist in the Royal Logistic Corps, questioned why the UK put ‘more effort’ into rescuing ‘abandoned animals’ than those left behind, adding that he was ‘torn’ between ‘anger and despair’.
And ex-paratrooper Major Andrew Fox said it was ‘insane’ that the dogs were ‘facilitated’ into the airport whilst British citizens and Afghan allies remained outside it.
In the new images of the dogs, staff members at Lozzas Lurcher Rescue in Hertfordshire was seen checking one of the dogs’ side as it lay on the ground.
On the Facebook page, they referred to their ‘precious cargo’ and noted how ‘every dog’ had been ‘well looked after’ by Mr Farthing.
Further images posted by Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary, whose staff also helped with getting the animals from London’s Heathrow Airport to their place of quarantine, showed dogs including a German Shepherd being cared for.
But whilst the dogs made it to the UK, some fear the true number of people left in Afghanistan – including hundreds of interpreters who aided British troops over the past two decades – is much higher than the 5,000 figure.
Mr Farthing’s allies accused the Ministry of Defence of ‘endangering lives of crew’ by releasing details of the charter flight into Kabul to Sky News on Saturday.
Dominic Dyer, an animal rights campaigner and friend of the ex-Royal Marine, claimed Ben Wallace acted ‘disgracefully’ towards Mr Farthing, who runs the Nowzad animal charity, after the Defence Secretary denied allegations that he had ‘blocked’ a private flight to rescue the cats and dogs.
He also rebutted claims that he had insulted British forces by denouncing the MoD and expressed ‘huge respect for what they were doing in the most difficult, dangerous circumstances’.
He called the withdrawal ‘appallingly handled’ by Britain and the US.
Ministers including Mr Wallacehave expressed frustration at Mr Farthing’s tactics after the Mail on Sunday revealed he threatened to ‘f**king destroy’ Peter Quentin, a special adviser to the Defence Secretary accused of ‘blocking’ the flight, unless he helped.
Mr Wallace initially said that he would not prioritise ‘pets over people’ but later allowed a charter plane to land at Kabul to pick up Mr Farthing, https://slot-gacor.learnyst.com/ and ‘facilitated’ the charity’s entry to the airport.
But speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain from Oslo today, Mr Farthing dismissed claims he was helped by the Government to get into Kabul airport.
‘Nobody in the British Government facilitated my entry into that airport – I did that with the Taliban,’ he said.
He also admitted that some seats on his animal rescue flight were empty and that five of his cats died of shock on their way to Hamid Karzai airport.
His animals are now in quarantine as per UK law and all the costs of the operation are being met by Nowzad.
However, they could be put down if they’ve brought back disease, with Whitehall officials comparing the situation to Geronimo the alpaca – who is facing destruction after testing positive for Bovine TB – ‘on speed’.
It comes after multiple missiles were fired at Kabul airport in the latest act of violence as the US races to get its last troops out of Afghanistan before the August 31 deadline set by Joe Biden - less than a week after ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing killing 170 people including 13 US Marines.
Meanwhile, Scottish Afghan charity Linda Norgrove Foundation said its staff trapped in Kabul have been forced to return to their homes after a ‘relentless 46 hours facing gunfire at the city’s airport entrance, either in a bus or a panicky crowd, with incessant gunfire and the constant, real threat of a terrorist bomb’.
The charity was set up in memory of a Scots aid worker who was killed after being kidnapped by the Taliban. The foundation previously said it has two staff, sisters aged 25 and 29, who were ‘holed up in their flat in Kabul’ after the Taliban seized control of the city.
It comes as:
Multiple rockets have been fired at Kabul airport in just the latest attack as the US races to get its last troops out of Afghanistan before the August 31 deadline;Foreign Office Minister James Cleverly admitted the Government has no idea how many Afghan citizens the UK left behind in Afghanistan;Dominic Raab will be ‘toast’ at Boris Johnson’s next Cabinet reshuffle because of his handling of the UK’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, it was claimed todayBritain is facing the biggest terror threat in years, experts have warned the Prime Minister; The Government said it had received assurances from the Taliban that anybody wishing to leave Afghanistan after August 31 will be allowed to do so;MPs and former military leaders have called on the government to create a new regiment in the British Army for Afghan special forces – just like the Gurkhas. Pen Farthing’s rescued dogs started their quarantine at a sanctuary in the UK as a war of words over how people were left behind in Afghanistan whilst the veteran’s animals made it out of the country continued to grow
Photos posted on Facebook by animal sanctuary staff who had been recruited to help ferry the dogs to an undisclosed location for their quarantine showed the pets in their travel containers.
Staff from Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary helped to get the dogs to their quarantine facility, which has not been named
One of the sanctuary staff members at Lozzas Lurcher Rescue, in Hertfordshire, was also seen checking one of the dogs’ side as it lay on the ground
Major Andrew Fox, an ex-paratrooper who served three tours in Afghanistan and has been helping to evacuate trapped interpreters, took aim at Pen Farthing’s animal rescue out of Kabul
The war of words over Pen Farthing’s animal rescue mission out of Afghanistan took its latest turn today as his allies accused the Ministry of Defence of ‘endangering lives of crew’ by releasing details of the chartered flight into Kabul to Sky News on Saturday
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<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news halfRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-3db638c0-0962-11ec-b0be-5f50e6e68c5a" website of words over Pen Farthing's animal rescue mission continues
