Pen Farthing appears to be on his way out of Kabul with up to 200 cats and dogs in tow.
The animal charity founder and former marine is now inside the airport awaiting safe passage out of Afghanistan – just moments before the evacuation draws to a conclusion.
His wife, Kaisa Markhus, told the Daily Mail that Farthing had made it through Taliban checkpoints and had been finally allowed to board a flight with rescue cats and dogs from his Nowzad charity – but he was forced to leave his staff members behind.
“I know Pen had a very hard choice. He faced that same choice when he was inside the airport with his staff and their families on Thursday and the animals and the staff were not allowed through,” says Kaisa.
“So, he went back to the compound to ensure everyone was safe and to discuss with them what to do. They decided he should go to the airport again with the dogs.
“He was devastated to leave his staff but knew that by removing both the dogs and himself he would remove two big risk factors.”
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that the group were ‘assisted through the system at Kabul airport by the UK Armed Forces’.
Last night his supporter and animal rights campaigner Dominic Dyer told the Mail: “Pen is OK, but he is very stressed.
“He has no choice but to leave and bring the animals with him. We are looking forward to getting them to the UK.
“We are very pleased we’ve got him out and are very grateful to the British Government for their help, and for the support of the Armed Forces.”
