Paul “Bean” Farthing, a former British military and founder of the animal NGO (NGO) Nawzad, was able to leave Afghanistan with nearly 170 dogs and cats. However, Nozad’s team did not get on board and remained behind.
According to information from Sky News, a Farthing flight arrived at Heathrow Airport in London (UK), Sunday morning. The plane was chartered with private resources.
“Mixed feelings and a deep sense of sadness for the Afghans today,” the former military man said on Twitter after confirming his arrival in the UK. Through the social network, it was also reported that Afghans were welcomed at the airport.
Although Farthing’s story has had a positive impact on social media before, this time around he has been criticized for not prioritizing his NGO’s human team. However, Dominic Dyer, a friend of the ex-military man and animal activist, told The Sun they had asked the UK government if they could fill the rest of the plane with civilians wanting to flee Afghanistan.
He explained that “the animals were in the place where the plane was loaded and did not occupy space for people.” “Then the Ministry of Defense machine came up saying we were saving animals before people,” he said.
The position of the British Ministry was that it would “make it easy” for Nawzad’s return, but that the priority would not be the animals and no one would cross the line.
Before boarding to London, the ex-military man speculated that he had been forced to leave his Afghan team behind because his staff were prevented from crossing the Taliban line into the British territory of the airport.
He told The Sun, “There were a lot of tears when we said goodbye. I feel a lot of things. I’m really sorry for them, but I’m comfortable with myself and I’m happy for the animals.”
On the trip back to the UK, five Farthing cats died. The British believe their deaths were caused by the shock of Thursday (26th) attack in Kabul and the amount of tear gas used soon after to try to contain the situation. The other 170 animals are fine and in good health.
Nawzad was created in Kabul after Farthing served his country in Afghanistan in the 2000s.
