As someone who works in animal rescue, I have seen many go above and beyond to ensure all animals are safe. That's the case of this week's heroes: Paul 'Pen" Farthing in Afghanistan and the United Kingdom Royal Air Force who helped him and the animals in the rescue, evacuate the country safely. Here's the story from BBC NEWS
image caption: Pen Farthing hellped get the rescue animals out of Afghanistan Credit: NOWZAD
Afghanistan: Pen Farthing has 'mixed emotions' after landing in UK
The founder of an animal shelter in Afghanistan has said he has "mixed emotions" after arriving in the UK after leaving Kabul.
Paul "Pen" Farthing landed at Heathrow Airport on Sunday morning, August 29th, having previously been caught up in Thursday's Kabul airport bomb blasts. Mr Farthing's charity Nowzad confirmed he and his animals left the country on Saturday without his staff
Mr Farthing's charity Nowzad confirmed he and his animals left the country on Saturday without his staff.
He said on Twitter he had "true deep feeling of sadness for Afghan today".
Arrived Heathrow with partial success of #OpArk Mixed emotions & true deep feeling of sadness for Afghan today. Heathrow Ops centre, Border Force, HARC & Air Pets were all bloody amazing. Witnessed 1st hand the compassion Heathrow is showing Afghan refugees. 
#AboveAndBeyond
Mr Farthing, a former Royal Marine who is originally from Dovercourt in Essex, set up the Nowzad animal shelter in Kabul, rescuing dogs, cats and donkeys, after serving in Afghanistan in the mid-2000s.
Since the collapse of the Afghan government, Mr Farthing and his supporters have campaigned to have his staff, their families and 140 dogs and 60 cats evacuated from the country in a plan he named Operation Ark.
Afghanistan: UK offers to help evacuate rescue animals and staff
AUGUST 25, 2021 BBC NEWS
The UK says it will help evacuate staff and animals from a charity sanctuary in Afghanistan.
Paul "Pen" Farthing had accused ministers of cutting him off after supporters funded a chartered plane.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace now says that if Mr Farthing arrives at Kabul airport with his animals "we will seek a slot for his plane". "If he does not have his animals with him he and his staff can board an RAF flight," he added on Twitter.
Royal Marine veteran Mr Farthing founded the Nowzad animal shelter, rescuing dogs, cats and donkeys after serving in Afghanistan in the mid-2000s. He has said he would not leave the country without his staff or animals.
Ex-Marine: I'm not leaving Kabul without animal rescue staff
On Tuesday, Mr Wallace said he was not prepared to prioritise animals ahead of the evacuation of people "in real danger".
He said he couldn't push them through Taliban checks or crowds.
Vet Iain McGill told the BBC that a private flight funded by donations is on standby to rescue the group.
"The important thing about this mission is that it's a humanitarian mission. It is to rescue Pen Farthing, his 68 staff, and 130 other vulnerable Afghan people," Dr McGill said.
"It will also rescue over 150 cats and dogs, many of them belonging to UK servicemen and women. The important thing is that every seat on that plane will be filled on the flight back to the UK."Mr Wallace said he had authorised the Ministry of Defence to facilitate the processing of Pen Farthing's staff to fly to the UK.
Nowzad Update - Operation Ark 31 August 2021
Operation Ark was a partial success with the safe evacuation of the Nowzad animals and Pen from Kabul during the last few hours of Kabul airport being secured by British and American troops.
Sadly the Taliban were not willing to let our Afghan national staff leave Afghanistan even though they finally had the correct paperwork from the UK government.
The dogs and cats of Operation Ark are now safely in quarantine and holding kennels relevant to their vaccinations and DEFRA approved blood testing dates and will be available for adoption from the Nowzad website in due course. Please do not message the quarantine kennels directly. They do not have the capacity or authority to adopt out any Nowzad dogs or cats.
The list of available dogs and cats and the procedure for adopting them will be published during mid-September. Our only focus now as a charity is the safety of our staff who were forced to remain in Kabul.
WEBSITE FOR THE RESCUE https://www.nowzad.com/news/article/nowzad-update-operation-ark
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