# Nowzad



## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

There is a charity in Afghanistan that helps the soldiers keep the pets that they acquire when stationed there. It has grown from that original theme into helping to train vets and other much needed personnel. With things as they are in that area the decision has been made to evacuate all the staff and animals to a safe haven. They are trying to charter a cargo plane to do this and really need donations to help with this. Many of the vets are women without a British Passport and so will not be helped by our Government and may be in great danger when Nowzad leave. It is forbidden under Taliban law to keep dogs as pets and so the dogs are in great danger too. The sick ones and the hard to rehome ones will be put to sleep but there will still be many more needing help.

I have donated. If we are in a position to do so when the evacuation happens I would also like to offer a roof to some of the refugees and their animals. I think the fifth wheel could hold four sharing two double beds.

https://www.nowzad.com/


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Will do now.


Edit. I have not donated. I regularly use my cc online but do not recall ever having been asked to give as much information as your donations page wants. Sorry, but I won't give my address or telephone number.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Pat how will they be evacuated to a safe haven

Those without British passports?

How will you offer accommodation to evacuees and their pets ?

Of course I’d offer to donate 

And we have more than enough accommodation 

Sandra


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Sorry, didn't realise it was you Pat.

I would gladly give if they asked for the normal information. If I met them collecting in the street I bung them for sure.

Maybe someone will explain why the want so much info. All they lack are my dob and bank account number. Perhaps I'm being too cautious.


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## Webby1 (Mar 11, 2012)

Now I appreciate the concern about the animals and I think it is a great gesture you have made to offer a roof to those affected. 
But as you say these women will not be helped by the British Government and therefore will probably not be allowed to enter the UK.
They will be abandoned just like the animals that they work with.

Now you may think it inappropriate to bring politics into this...........but really that is what it's all about at the end of the day. 
My commitment to those poor abandoned souls, human and animals, is that I will never ever speak well about this present despicable government who have allowed this to happen (and certainly never vote for them)...........no honour,no compassion,a disgrace to this Nation.
Sorry if you don't like my response but I think it needs to be said.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Nowzad are a long established and well recognised charity. When I first spotted the appeal on Facebook it had options to donate by Paypal if that suits anyone better? I chose to just put a link to their website but I am sure there are other ways. I will take a look.

I am not sure how they are going to evacuate those people without passports. I assume, as a long established charity that they carry some weight to negotiate?? I think the employees of the charity may be considered refugees?


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I think if you scroll down on their page that you can donate by text on your phone? I was offered paypal too.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Webby1 said:


> Now I appreciate the concern about the animals and I think it is a great gesture you have made to offer a roof to those affected.
> But as you say these women will not be helped by the British Government and therefore will probably not be allowed to enter the UK.
> They will be abandoned just like the animals that they work with.
> 
> ...


Maybe

But is doing nothing an option ?

Just never speak or vote for the despicable government?

Not much of a commitment is it to people or animals

Sandra


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Done.


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## Webby1 (Mar 11, 2012)

aldra said:


> Maybe
> 
> But is doing nothing an option ?
> 
> ...


Doing nothing ............oh yes I made a donation as well...............does that count.
I believe you said you'd offer to donate..........did you ? Not much of a commitment is it ?????

Do you really want to be obnoxious and argue on every thread you take part in.

Well done Pat and Alan................nothing more to say


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Done.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Didn’t realise we had to say when we donated webby 

Not that it’s any of your business though

My comment was on what you posted not wether or not you donated , that’s your business

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

They are all still there. They fled, with all the vets and animals, the scene of the bomb blast at the airport and made it safely (sort of) back to their animal sanctuary. They were fired upon by the Taliban as they did so but no one, thankfully, was hurt.
The latest I have heard is that Pen, the marine, has asked the Taliban to escort them to the airport where they have a specially chartered plane waiting to fly them out. Doesn't look good from today's news of our military being withdrawn.


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

Very easy with Paypal.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

But the MoD did manage to evacuate the car….


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1429933062108893185


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## bilbaoman (Jun 17, 2016)

Looks like no charter flight will be allowed so there will be no evacuation of animals the founder of Nowzad will be brought out on a MOD flight


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Penn Farting and his animals have been assisted into the airport and through the registration system by U.K. Forces, they are now being supported at the airport while waiting for the flight out.

There is no information about his staff.

This information was released by the MoD a few minutes ago and was on BBC Spotlight as the former Royal Marine comes from the SW.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

The last I heard was that his paperwork was rejected by the American officials because Biden had changed the ground rules. He and his team of vets then returned to the compound with the animals. He has always vowed that he would not accept a flight without his team of people because of how vulnerable they are to Taliban attack. They have euthanised a lot of animals but felt unable to euthanise the pets and healthy rescues in their care.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

So the rest of the animals were not healthy ?

Have I just wasted £50 

Of course I’d contribute to get people out, but my understanding I was getting people and animals out 

People well I’d contribute to getting people out

But this was an animal charity 

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

The healthy animals are safe as far as I know. There are a lot of them. The ones that were too sick to fly had to be euthanised.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

It’s not looking likely that they will get out Pat


What a nightmare for everyone concerned

And another stronghold for terrorism 

Excuse typing only can use left hand now and even that’s badly swollen and painful 

Right hand/wrist completely useless

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Sorry to hear about you hands Sandra. How debilitating for you. Did you try to get the GP practice to chase your follow up appointments?

It seems that Pen Farthing and the animals got to safety, courtesy of the British Government. His Afghan colleagues, however, have not been so lucky  Such a worry as they are mostly women and have, of course, been working as vets alongside a British ex soldier. Let's pray they find a way to become refugees and find a safe passage here where vets are in very short supply.


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

I’ve gone to pals, complaints 

GP gave me the numbers of rheumatologist nurses, answer phone, no response, they will answer eventually, that was a week ago 

Tomorrow A&E , the slightest movement of my right hand fingers, hand and wrist agony for about a week and a half now

Sandra


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Don't blame you for seeking help in A&E Sandra. It shouldn't, however, be necessary! It often seems to me that the GP's and hospitals are at war to see who they can push into the path of the other.


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## bilbaoman (Jun 17, 2016)

I hope his charity as got deep pockets as the cost of quarantine for 170+ animals will be around 300000 pounds maybe Carrie can arrange a discount


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I would imagine, Bill, that the animals all had passports? It is part of the charity's aim to reunite the pets with the servicemen who befriended them while on tour of duty in Afghanistan.


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## bilbaoman (Jun 17, 2016)

patp said:


> I would imagine, Bill, that the animals all had passports? It is part of the charity's aim to reunite the pets with the servicemen who befriended them while on tour of duty in Afghanistan.


As they are not returning from a part1or part 2 listed country they have not had the time to comply with the entry rules to enter the UK without the need to quarantine so will have to quarantine for at least four months:frown2::frown2:


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

I am sure that all the pets were destined for the UK or America to be reunited with the servicemen that saved them. They have had them all for some time. It is not a case of rounding up strays to send to the UK. One of the first things they would have done would be to get the pet passport in place while treating the animals for any ailments and behaviour problems. 
I have a dog from Ireland and it is exactly what they do first before arranging any sort of rehoming over here. If not then perhaps NOWZAD, who are a Sussex based charity, will provide a quarantine kennel for them all. Pen Farthing has been doing this for a long time so would know all the pitfalls.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Well, it turns out that they have arrived in the UK and have gone into quarantine. It was the Taliban that Pen Farthing has to thank for getting him to the airport and through the rigmarole of an American controlled zone. I will try to find his interview on British TV but in the meantime I have copied what NOWZAD is all about -

Tuks Law - Scan Me
YestSfdpdteoroimdnlroay samtoo reu1d0:l2ccl5fsgo · 
We have been given permission to share this letter as a voice representing thousands of both serving and ex military personnel to show exactly what #Nowzad means to them. 
Please share 🙏
Letter from a Veteran of Afghanistan: 
I am a Royal Marine Veteran who served on the frontline in Afghanistan 2006-2007.
I write with heartbreak and exasperation to name just a few of the fraught emotions I have felt over the last few weeks seeing the freefall into utter chaos and desperation that so many of my comrades and the people of Afghanistan fought tooth, nail and heart to build-up over the last 20 years.
The mistakes and the choices from those in the high positions of authority and the turning of backs over the last 18mths can be argued and reviewed on another day. Today and tomorrow is our priority, we need to deal with the present. And that means saving as many lives as possible and finding some light in the darkness of this situation for those that in the highest echelons of Washington, the MOD and Whitehall sadly choose to neglect.
The soldier in combat yearns for home. Yearns for the smell of mum's roast dinner not eaten from a bag. Yearns for the quiet of a lazy Sunday without the noise of gunfire and mortars, yearns for a walk down the street without the threat of a mine or an IED that would change his and his mates lives forever, yearns for a deep sleep without having to keep one eye open, years for safety, security and comfort that is home.
In 2006 in a small compound in the town of Nowzad, exposed to the Taliban and the impending winter, myself and my brothers of K-Coy Royal Marines led up. It was as far away from home as you could imagine and sadly two of our guys didn't make it back there, with many others baring wounds seen and unseen, I also had my own emotional and physical scars.
But in the midst of our time in that dusty, dirty compound, sleeping in bullet and blood-stained cells, a roughed-up dog came into our lives and made his home with us. After being rescued from a fight with other strays by our Sergeant 'Pen' Farthing, the dog was aptly named Nowzad. He was cared for by Pen and built a space with us to live in. As you watched this fella with a new lease of life bouncing round, playing and loving being loved, it was not only a great comfort and distraction from combat, but bought a profound sense of 'home'. It is no surprise that in our next outpost in Kajacki we befriended another dog called 'Tangey' who would even join us on patrol. 
You may think of this just a superficial story that ends when the operational tour ends. But I want to say that couldn't be further from the truth.
Over 1600 dogs and cats have been reunited with their soldiers from Afghanistan because of the tireless work of Pen and his team of Afghan staff. And these are not 'just' animals. These were comrades, comforters, companians to us. These animals provided lights in the darkness of an ongoing battle and a sense of home away from home. They provided grounding and purpose away from the chaos of battle and might I say someone to care for and love so far away from our loved ones. They were not simply pets and not simply animals but in so many ways much more as they put smiles on solemn faces, lifted morale when the well was dry and the feeling was always mutual. 
I can boldly say that the animals of Nowzad are truly life-savers. I have no doubt that many who been reunited with their Veterans from combat have kept their comrade alive, when the black dog of PTSD and depression looms around the corner. And it is why other animal charities are linked with the armed forces provide dogs and cats for wounded Veterans who have experienced injury and illness as part of their ongoing therapy.
So when many many people profess, call and lobby with heart, vigor and passion for Pen, his team and his troop of animal soldiers to be bought safely 'home'. When external supporters provide all the resources and everything possible to provide a plane, a plan and a mission to bring them all to Britain without any cost to our nation. When Penn says I will leave none of my team behind. Perhaps you might understand the reason for this fight.
The least our government can do is grant them safe passage. Perhaps another light in this darkness, another story of hope.
Regards
Photo Credit #Nowzad #PenFarthing


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Just a little more detail from Jan Leeming that shots down some of the detractors of Pen's mission.


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1432307126886674432
Terry


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Is there a pet passport scheme that extends beyond Europe?


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## bilbaoman (Jun 17, 2016)

the Uk accepts pet passports from part 1 listed countries which is the EU most of the other european countries and most French overseas countries you can also bring in pets from part 2 list countries with a pet health certificate without quarantine among these is Australia Canada Argentina Mexico you can bring pets in from other countries without quarantine but these most follow certain rules the animals from Afghanistan did not comply with these rules so they will have to quarantine for at least four months


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Sorry, yes, they have all gone into quarantine but the fundraising may well have covered the cost.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Just a little update that they also managed to get all the staff out too


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

*NOWZAD Update*

NOWZAD Update from Pen Farthing. He says some interesting things about the Afghanistan exit.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

baldlygo said:


> NOWZAD Update from Pen Farthing. He says some interesting things about the Afghanistan exit.


HMG and their quisling press followers should be ashamed, the real sad thing being, that it's no surprise to many of us here and further afield. The mental anguish they put folk through is and was reprehensible.

Terry


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