DogExpress
After arriving in Heathrow on a chartered airplane transporting dogs and kittens, a former Royal Marine whose effort to secure the evacuation of his Kabul animal shelter divided opinion in Britain has spoken of his “mixed emotions.”
On Sunday, Paul “Pen” Farthing said on Twitter that he had arrived at Heathrow following the “partial success” of Operation Ark, in which he tried to evacuate animals as well as personnel and their families from Afghanistan.
Farthing’s effort garnered mixed reactions in the United Kingdom. He was said to have left an expletive-laden message for a government assistant while attempting to get his crew and animals on a flight out of Afghanistan.
His organization, Nowzad, reported to the BBC on Sunday that Farthing and his animals had fled the country without his team on Saturday.
According to Dr. Iain McGill, a vet with the organization, Farthing’s chartered plane arrived at Heathrow on Sunday morning with 90 to 100 dogs and 60 to 70 cats on board.
Farthing’s drive to relocate staff and animals from the Nowzad shelter from Afghanistan has sparked controversy in recent days, despite widespread popular backing. Although visas were granted to his 24 employees and their dependents, Farthing refused to go without his animals and planned to flee the country with 200 dogs and cats.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the ex-Marine and his animals had arrived at Kabul airport and that the UK government had granted clearance for their charter flight.
Source: Times Of India
in Chandigarh, India. 
