Camilla Long doesn't know the difference between Pen Farthing and Joe Exotic

Camilla Long is a well-known journalist writing for The Sunday Times. She comments on the news and I guess anything that interests her. Today, she has written something which irritates me. I'm sure she doesn't give a damn. In fact it probably pleases her because her provocative articles are meant to irritate and delight at the same time. She is a consummate writer, very bright, Oxbridge educated and blah blah blah. She is talented. But she's got this completely wrong.

Camilla Long. Photo: Twitter.

She is criticising animal lovers and "animal people" who, I presume, are the same species of human. And she can't tell the difference between the behaviour of the well-known animal rescuer, Pen Farthing, who was until the mass evacuation based in Kabul, Afghanistan and the obnoxious but made-for-television personality, Joe Exotic.

I'll tell her what the difference is. Mr Farthing saves the lives of unwanted and discarded animals. He shipped many dogs from Afghanistan to America. This is because American military personnel rescued dogs in Afghanistan and became close to them. When they came to the end of their deployment and returned to America they had to leave their dogs behind. Mr Farthing rectified that problem. He raised considerable funds to ship these dogs to America for a reunion and to allow the dogs to live out their lives happily. He saved lives and did good work. He also ran a vet surgery in Kabul. He founded and ran the best animal rescue organisation in Afghanistan for years. He alleviated pain and distress in animals.

RELATED: Taliban likely to ban dogs but accept cats

He bent over backwards and struggled enormously to save the lives of about 200 cats and dogs during the mass evacuation when the Taliban took over. Camilla Long criticises him for euthanising 32 older dogs at that time because they weren't enough crates to transport them all, she said. She also criticises him for the death of six cats who were tear-gassed after a suicide bomb went off at the airport.

I'm sure Mr Farthing reluctantly euthanised the dogs that she mentions. Sometimes rescue animals have to be euthanised despite best intentions. Under the most dire and critical conditions, Mr Farthing saved lives. If he euthanised these dogs it would have been an absolutely last resort that he was compelled to take. It would have been a humane decision.

RELATED: 25-30 cats at US Embassy Kabul have been abandoned

By contrast, Joe Exotic, for many years, ran the biggest private zoo in America and exploited big cat cubs for financial gain on a treadmill basis. They were used for photo shoots but when they grew up they were redundant. They were surplus to requirements. There were sometimes shot. Basically he was exploiting animals in the most abusive way for many many years. And he is serving a 22-year sentence for plotting to murder Carole Baskin, one of the world's 'animal people'. He is a thoroughly obnoxious individual.

These two individuals are in stark contrast to each other. You cannot say what Camilla Long has written about them which is as follows:

What's the difference between Farthing and the execrable human beings who run roadside tiger parks in America?

Well, I agree about the execrable human beings who exploit big cats and abuse them in the process but as mentioned there is a big difference. There's a big difference between exploitation and saving lives. In fact, they are at the opposite end of the spectrum of our relationship with humans.

Obstructive behaviour by Warrington Animal Welfare (WAW) rescue centre causes an injustice against cat's owner

WARRINGTON, UK-NEWS AND VIEWS: This is one of those typical and rather complex stories which we see from time to time on the Internet. It's a sad story of a tussle over cat ownership and in the middle is a rescue centre.

What happened is that a ginger tabby cat called Bobby escaped his home. Warrington Animal Welfare (WAW) found him. They uploaded his photograph with some details onto their Facebook website. Patricia Donegan, Bobby's owner, saw the Facebook post and contacted the animal shelter immediately. In the meantime the animal shelter had renamed her cat George. Patricia believes that she provided WAW with adequate proof that she was Bobby's owner.  

Bobby. Images: Facebook.

The shelter refused to return Bobby to her because he wasn't microchipped or neutered. Apparently they branded her as irresponsible. It seems that they got off on the wrong foot at the very beginning WAW has been obstructive ever since. WAW appears to have taken a prejudicial stance against Patricia for some reason. They have dug themselves in and are defensive and unhelpful. The more Patricia pesters them the more they dig in.

It seems Patricia took the matter to the County Court for the return of Bobby and the judge advised that they try and reach a resolution. The problem is that Patricia took Warrington Animal Rescue to court and not the new owner. She had to because at the time she did not have the new owner's details.

WAW offered £100 to settle the matter which Patricia rightly refused because all she wants is her cat back. The centre had rehomed Bobby with a new 'owner' and Patricia had found out the name and address of the new owner from unredacted court documents. A lucky break.

In my opinion, she could sue the new owner for an injunction for the return of Bobby or a declaration that she is the true owner. The new owner says that Bobby escaped from her possession when she decided to take Bobby back to WAW. However, her story sounds fanciful and she has changed it twice apparently. Patricia does not believe her. I believe that Bobby is still with the new owner and a full-time indoor cat.

Patricia also believes that Bobby has not been lost and that the new owner is lying. Warrington Animal Rescue say that they raised £1000 for the care and treatment of Bobby but it transpired that only £90 of the thousand pounds raised was spent on veterinary treatment. Although it appears that the rescue implied that they had spent the £1000. 

My FB message to Patricia.

I have messaged Patricia with my thoughts for what they are worth. She is the legal owner in my book. As far as I am concerned WAW have misbehaved and in doing so has caused an injustice against the true and original owner.

Source: Metro.co.uk. and Patricia.

What's wrong with the registration of all animal shelters?

Is there anything wrong with the idea that all animal shelters of any kind should be registered with the authorities? I note that the state of Colorado has obligatory licensing for animal shelters but how widespread is this across the US? The intention would be to ensure that standards were kept high enough in the interests of the welfare of the animals at the shelter. 

Michelline Toulouse. Video screenshot. She ran her own 'rescue' while volunteering at another but was herself a cat hoarder who was later charged. Licensing would have prevented her behavior.

Registration would entail inspection which in turn would be taking preventative steps against those cases in which the animal sanctuary owner loses control resulting in neglected animals some of whom end up starving to death or becoming very ill.

Surely, it is wiser to take preventative steps rather than reactive ones? On an almost daily basis we read about well-intentioned cat owners looking after more than one cat which then becomes an informal cat shelter of sorts. This then develops into an out-of-control situation in which the shelter founder and owner fails to have sufficient funds to run the establishment. 

I am concerned about individuals who have good intentions but end up hurting the cats while running informal "sanctuaries" or "shelters". I put these words in quotes because they're neither shelters nor sanctuaries. They become hellholes for cats. Sometimes you can't really blame the person but it would be far better to take proactive steps and it might be cheaper for the authorities.

And there aren't enough volunteers to help or foster carers. The complexities and difficulties of running an animal shelter can bring them down unless the person is well-prepared.

Of course, you would have to keep a register and have somebody to inspect the property. I don't foresee that as being very expensive for the authorities because there aren't that many animal shelters. I read many cat-news stories and I'm forever being reminded of the failure of informal, private cat shelters.

A recent story (Sept 2021) concerns a cat hoarder who was 'rescuing cats' from other cat hoarders. A bizarre state of affairs as she was also working as a volunteer at another rescue facility.

Michigan State University say that as at 2014, in America, traditionally, there's been a lack of regulation and supervision in monitoring rescue and foster care organisations. Licensing, they argue, would subject rescues to inspections and hold them accountable for the animals that they take in.

Of course, rescues are governed by the general laws of animal welfare in any particular state and therefore they are indirectly monitored through the potential of being punished should they break those laws. But as mentioned this is reactive and in the meantime, cats are hurt or killed. It is not as good as registration provided registration is carried out properly and combined with inspections.

1. Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act or also referred to as PACFA - info on Colorado obligatory licensing.

Nowzad staff escape Afghanistan to the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan

The Nowzad staff have successfully escaped Afghanistan and are now at the British High Commission in Pakistan from where they will be travelling to the UK in due course. Animal advocates the world over will be delighted to hear the news.

Mr Farthing, who founded the Nowzad organisation managed, as you may recall, to escape with almost 200 cats and dogs in a privately funded jet among a lot of controversy. However, he did remarkable work and showed great fortitude in getting the animals out with himself.

Nowzad staff escape Afghanistan to the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan. Note: this is a screenshot and not an embedded tweet.

Nowzad staff escape Afghanistan to the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan. Screenshot of tweet.

Mr Farthing was forced to leave his staff behind because of the great difficulty of evacuation from Kabul airport and because of Taliban barriers that were constantly being put up together with President Biden's change in policy. And now we can report that the Nowzad staff are out of Afghanistan. We are not told how they got there but it must have been overland to the border with Pakistan. We do know that the former Royal Marine, Pen Farthing, is "so bloody happy" that his staff made it out of the country.

Mr Farthing said: "This is bloody mind-blowing. It has still not really sunk in". And the Foreign Secretary Dominic Rab also tweeted that he was pleased that the group had crossed the border into Pakistan and were being assisted by the diplomatic service and that "we look forward to welcoming them to the UK in the coming days".

Mr Farthing can now declare his "Operation Ark" a success although it was carried out in two phases. Nowzad's primary purpose as an animal rescue centre in Kabul was to reunite military personnel with mainly dogs that they had rescued, while being deployed in Afghanistan, on their return to America or other country from which they had been deployed.

Of course, Kabul is now without an animal rescue center of great quality. The lives of the animals of Afghanistan will be worse as a result.

Update October 11, 2021: is now reported that his staff have just arrived in the UK. They were flown from Islamabad, Pakistan. Amongst them are I believe a couple of veterinarians and they will be checked out and they can then work as veterinarians in the UK. The other staff will also be able to find new jobs I believe in veterinary clinics in the UK. It's great news and they can now build new lives in a relatively safe country.

33 rescued purebred Persian cats are available for adoption from MSPCA-Angell

MSPCA-Angell is the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Centre. It is a long title and they find themselves in the extraordinary position of having 33 rescued purebred flat-faced Persian cats for adoption to the public.

One of the badly neglected contemporary Persian cats after rescue showing the dirty and badly matted coat which needed to be shaved. The cats suffered from upper respiratory infections. They are now ready for adoption. The photograph is by MSPCA-Angell.

The MSPCA at Nevins Farm are in the process of identifying adopters for these purebred Persian cats. They were surrendered to the organisation from a central Massachusetts home on August 23.

The reason why they are available and were rescued is because the cats, primary caregiver passed away leaving a man (husband?) to take care of the cats and he couldn't manage. They say that he quickly realised he could not meet their needs. I would have to argue with that because if he had quickly realised he couldn't do the job then they wouldn't have ended up so matted and in such a poor state in terms of their dirty coats and general health. So, the man took too long about it sadly but he agreed to surrender them to their adoption centre.

CLICK FOR A PAGE ON THE PERSIAN

They say that many of them are previous show cats and several of them were imported from Italy. Over the two weeks that they've been in the care of MSPCA-Angell they have undergone treatment for various ailments and their coats have been de-matted by shaving and grooming. There was suffering from upper respiratory infections and dental health issues. Their coats were matted and dirty, as mentioned. The living environment was cluttered and crowded.

They suggest that the cats need good care from now on but it is unusual, I would say that it is unique, for a rescue organisation to have 33 purebred cats, some of them show cats, up for adoption to the public. I don't think the public will have a better chance to adopt a contemporary Persian cat from a rescue than this one.

The age of the cats varies from 5 to 12 years old. As mentioned, these are contemporary Persian cats with flat faces. Not everybody likes this extreme form of breeding and they can have inherited health issues such as breathing problems, tear duct overflow and on my research, 35% of Persian cats suffer from polycystic kidney disease. I would ask about that when adopting.

Pasco County Animal Services in Florida takes rescue animals from the path of Hurricane Ida

The video shows how Bay Area, Florida animal rescue groups have helped by taking animals impacted by Hurricane Ida which cut a path from Louisiana to New York. Both were devasated. The director of Pasco Animal Services, Mike Shumate, got a call from Charleston Animal Society who worked with the Humane Society of South Mississippi. He says that the majority of dogs received are ready to be adopted which obviously makes it much easier for them. 

The video shows the co-director of Southern States Bully Rescue explaining how they had to work really fast to get the animals out of there. It's about quid pro quo or paying it forward. Mike makes the point very well by saying that if he helps animal shelters in Louisiana then one day they will need their help when a storm or hurricane passes through Florida. 

I think it's a very impressive network of shelters who work so effectively together under these dramatic circumstances. I also think it is only in America where you get this kind of teamwork and that may be because they appear to have more devastating storms compared to other countries together with the fact that they have many animal shelters. They had to find a way to deal with these emergencies and they certainly did.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

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Shelter animals transported out from the path of Hurricane Ida

America has a wonderful system of transporting shelter animals away from disaster zones so that those shelters are freed up for animals caught up in the disaster and the resident animals are moved out of harm's way. This works so successfully because of the wonderful volunteers who carry out the work with passion and commitment and because there are efficient air services which carry out this work. 

Shelter animals transported away from the path of Hurricane Ida. Photo: People.com.

America is a large country and therefore a lot of the time transporting shelter animals out of the path of a hurricane means putting them on an aircraft and flying them hundreds of miles.

In this instance, Hurricane Ida was classified in Louisiana as a Category 4 storm on Sunday afternoon. Before it hit landfall animal shelters and rescues has made preparations by transporting their animals to areas outside of the storm's path.

One shelter which stepped into the fray and did their bit is Helen Woodward Animal Shelter based in California. They took in 40 cats and 25 dogs from a transport flight planned by the well-known charity Greater Good Charities, in less than 24 hours.

Their website tells me that they have three arms to their charitable work: empowering people, safeguarding animals and preserving nature. As for safeguarding animals they say that they transport at risk pets to safety among other services.

The charity contacted Helen Woodward Animal Center asking for help. The adoption services director of Helen Woodward Animal Center said that it was one of those moments when animal rescue becomes a life-saving mission. She said "without a place to put these dogs and cats, many of these orphan pets would face a tragic end. We couldn't say no."

They are now looking for temporary foster care for the 65 Louisiana cats and dogs in their care. This is the way shelters deal with spillover numbers. When they have too many cats and dogs, they can go to their volunteers who live in the area who willingly provide foster care services to rescue animals. It greatly extends the scope of a shelter. Foster carers provide essential work.

Another shelter which stepped up to the plate is Operation Kindness based in Dallas. They took the ground route and drove a transport vehicle to Louisiana, filled it with young shelter animals and took them out of the path of the storm. They took, in all, 20 dogs and 31 cats in the age range two months to 16 years from Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter.

These lucky 51 companion animals are now looking for homes in Texas. Applicants can apply through their website at operationkindness.org.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

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Many other organisations worked together to help protect Louisiana's shelter animals from this devastating storm. It is a good example once again of how animal rescuers can work together so effectively to save lives.

First pictures of Mr Farthing's animals in the UK at a Welsh animal rescue centre

Mr Paul 'Pen' Farthing and his animals landed at Heathrow Airport, near London, UK, on Sunday morning. He was accompanied by 173 cats and dogs. They have to enter a four-month quarantine period as I understand it. With that number of animals, they have to be distributed to other shelters around the UK. And one of those shelters is the Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary who took to Twitter to share images of the animals. The only animals that I have seen are dogs. A staffer at the sanctuary said in a tweet that they are very happy to be able to help.

Note: all the pictures that I have seen of Nowzad animals are dogs. I have not seen one cat. Do they really exist? I am concerned I have to admit. Surely, we would have seen some cats by now. I have seen all the photos from Nowzad and no cats.

The Sun headline: "Pen Farthing says most of his 173 cats and dogs are lined up for new homes in UK as he praises ‘phenomenal’ UK troops" - good news.

First pictures of Mr Farthing's animals in the UK at a Welsh animal rescue centre. Photo: Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary.

It is nice to see these animals in what I hope is the calm and safety of a British animal shelter. And let us hope that they find beautiful new homes after the expiry of the quarantine period. I am hopeful that the animals are healthy because Nowzad, the shelter in Kabul which was managed by Mr Farthing until he had to evacuate, has veterinary support. They have a decent veterinary clinic as far as I can tell and therefore, I would hope that the animals coming in with Mr Farthing are healthy.

First pictures of Mr Farthing's animals in the UK at a Welsh animal rescue centre. Photo: Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary.

I know that the veterinarians at Nowzad used to treat the 25-30 stray cats that were fed at the US Embassy. I do not know what is happening to those cats now that the embassy staff have evacuated. It's a concern to me and I am sure others. These cats were fed by embassy staff so are they going to survive?

Here is a tweet:

We were honoured to assist & very happy to help you transport some of your dogs to a quarantine facility in Berkshire. Keep up your great work!! 🐶🐵 #OpArk https://t.co/DvdXna7Uf0 pic.twitter.com/LghCwxiKSw

— Wales Ape & Monkey Sanctuary (@walesape) August 29, 2021

Pen Farthing flew back to the UK last night with his menagerie of animals rescued by the Nowzad charity

Mr Paul 'Pen' Farthing and his rescued cats and dogs from his Nowzad animal rescue charity based in Kabul, Afghanistan, landed at Heathrow airport last night and immediately took a connecting flight to Oslo to see his wife who had left Afghanistan last week. The cats and dogs are in quarantine and they will remain there for four months as per the usual procedures. This will obviously be a very difficult time for them to add to the trauma already suffered.

Some of the cats and dogs in Kabul on the way to the airport. They were probably offloaded to get air. Photo: The Daily Mail.

I understand that his flight from Kabul went via Muscat. Initially the reports were that he was going to fly to Uzbekistan first and then on to Heathrow. Mr Farthing said that he has mixed emotions in his tweet which stated:

"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."

Mr Farthing's tweet on landing.

To be clear, he used a privately funded chartered jet for the evacuation operation. He did not commandeer any military plane and therefore we did not take any seats for people. In fact, he offered available seats on his plane but there were no takers. This runs entirely counter to what we read in the news media that a lot of people qualified to evacuate Kabul have been left behind. Why couldn't they have been found and placed on Mr Farthing's flight?

Also, to be clear, Mr Farthing has evacuated 94 dogs and 79 cats as I recall. A large number indeed but some animals have been left behind at Nowzad. The report indicate that Nowzad is currently closed because the staff are at home perhaps for their own safety. The staff could have evacuated because they were issued with visas but because of the chaos and complications of getting to the airport they couldn't make it. I think the Taliban stopped them.

Mr Farthing blames the MoD for being obstructive and an audio recording is on my website of Mr Farthing leaving a voicemail on Peter Quentin's answerphone in which he threatens him. At that time Mr Farthing was obviously very desperate to get his animals out. There is quite a big discussion about Mr Farthing's behaviour but I wholly support him because he was under great stress as were the animals. And it does seem that the MoD was being obstructive. They appear to have decided that the optics, to use a modern term, were not good if animals were seen to be evacuated before people.

Indeed, there are people now, quite senior people, who are continuing to criticise Mr Farthing for evacuating animals over people. But that is entirely incorrect because Mr Farthing was adding to the aircraft inventory at Kabul airport and was not taking away one of the military aircraft. He was adding seats and therefore had the right to evacuated animals. In fact, he offered seats for people on that particular flight but there were no takers. And he says that you can't put people in the hold where there are cats and dogs because it is not allowed.

You have to admire Mr Farthing and his forcefulness for achieving this. And for setting up Nowzad in the first place. It would not have been set up without this kind of forceful personality. The issues now do not go away because the animals concerned will have to leave quarantine, all being well, and be rehomed. And there are issues back in Kabul to do with animal welfare because Nowzad which he founded will now have to be entirely about rescuing animals in the region rather than reuniting support animals with military personnel who have returned home. This will be a repositioning of the operation as I see it. How will they manage to do this and will they be successful?

And the evacuation of Americans and the military is going to weaken animal rescue and animal welfare in Afghanistan. A lot of money was sloshing around which help animal welfare. That's going to go away because the donations were provided to operations like Nowzad on the basis that animals were reunited with military personnel. Will Nowzad be able to raise that kind of money to rescue cats and dogs that were owned by Afghanistan citizens?

One British politician, Tom Tugendhat has criticised a decision to use soldiers to evacuate Mr Farthing's animals while the lives of Afghans who assisted the British were under threat. I think he's wrong and being melodramatic. As mentioned, Mr Farthing added to the aircraft inventory. He added seats and did not take them away. And why shouldn't animals have some rights as well? Even under the most severe circumstances. Why should people be always superior to animals under these circumstances?

The story actually divides people between those who care about animals and those who don't. But for me, it is entirely correct that the animals were evacuated. We're talking about less than 200 animals that have been rescued from Kabul compared to 100,000+ people. Is that not fair, sensible and reasonable?

Has Paul 'Pen' Farthing left Afghanistan?

Yes, he has left. Finally, after much animosity between Farthing and the MOD, he took off with his 94 dogs and 79 cats at 4:30 pm, Saturday 28th 2021 from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. It's been reported that he travelled to the capital of Uzbekistan initially with the ultimate destination being England.

The report is from The Telegraph online newspaper. Earlier reports in various news media outlets support this as they reported on a gradual, tortuous and dangerous progress towards the moment when they were evacuated. However, the news that Farthing has got out is not 100% guaranteed as news from Kabul is a bit shaky at times.

Has Paul 'Pen' Farthing left Afghanistan? Yes.

Mr Farthing was highly critical of the MoD, particularly the special adviser to Ben Wallace the Defence Secretary who he claims unreasonably delayed evacuation. Farthing claims that if the MoD had been more efficient and reasonable, he would have got his staff out as well. As it happens, they have stayed behind.

Also, there were other animals, not cats or dogs, who have remained at the Nowzad animal sanctuary in Kabul. His staff had visas to leave. It must be particularly galling for him and for his dedicated staff members to be left behind through, as he sees it, MoD inefficiencies.

The MoD argue that they didn't want anybody queue jumping. I suspect that the MoD thought the 'optics' to use a modern term were not good because it would have meant seeing dogs and cats being prioritised over people. But that was not the case because Mr Farthing had made his own arrangements using private donations to charter an aircraft.

Therefore, he was not queue jumping. He was adding to the number of aircraft available. In fact, he suggested that because there were seats available on his aircraft, he could take some people as well. I'm afraid it looks like the MoD were bogged down in their own bureaucracy and it indicates poor decision-making but that is a personal comment.

It has to be said that it has been a very trying saga to get his animals out of Afghanistan. There were numerous obstacles, difficulties and dangers. It must have been enormously stressful for all concerned. And I include in that the animals who at one stage were in a vehicle, cheek by jowl, in cages, in sweltering heat for 10 hours. And he said that at one stage he had an AK-47 stuffed in his face. He may have been lucky to survive the experience.

I think at that point Mr Farthing was concerned whether the animals would actually survive the journey to the airport which must have been quite a short one in terms of distance but a mountain in terms of time.

At one stage he got into the perimeter of the airport but not into the airport itself as he was turned back. He blames that moment on President Biden who just before had changed the rules about who was allowed out.

If you want to read some background information on this then please tick on this link.

90,000 evacuated from Afghanistan but what about pets?

This is a note, no more, but when I read about 90,000 people being evacuated out of Kabul to the West, to safety, I am naturally pleased but also concerned. This is a very large number of people and surely some of these families must have pets. There must be cats and dogs in these homes as companion animals to the families. So, what happened to them? 

90,000 evacuated from Afghanistan but what about pets?

There is only one possibility which is that they've been left behind to fend for themselves. There is no way that the UK and US governments would allow them to take their cats and dogs with them. Although I have seen a photograph of a dog in the passenger seat on a plane taking off from Kabul airport. The dog apparently was owned by an embassy staff member. There were some complaints because it was claimed that dogs should not take precedence over Afghani people.

So, embassy staff can take their dogs back home but Afghanis can't. And, it is almost certain that these cats and dogs are going to suffer tremendously and probably starve to death. And to add to the complexity and disaster of the situation, Nowzad, Mr Farthing's well-known animal rescue charity based in Kabul has permission to take staff and the animals out of there on a privately-funded chartered jet (after much wrangling and objections by the Ministry of Defence).

American service dogs given precedence over Afghanis waiting to be evacuated by air

So, there will be one less animal rescue charity available in Kabul to pick up the pieces if indeed there is more than one in any case. I would doubt that there are any animal rescue centres in Kabul but I could well be wrong.

The point of this note is that animals will suffer because of human madness. It took a lot of effort for Mr Farthing to convince the UK government to allow him to transport his animals out of Kabul because initially they did not want to see images in the news media of animals taking precedence, apparently, over Afghan citizens who have the right to be evacuated. 

This resulted in the UK government prohibiting him flying the animals out of Kabul even though the flight was privately funded and not a burden on the British taxpayer. A quite bizarre decision which has been overturned thankfully. Mr Farthing, his staff and animals, I believe, are making arrangements now to fly out of the country. There will be complexities over such things as bio-security i.e. rabies and Covid et cetera, but essentially the animals will be saved.

The Taliban have a very bad reputation regarding dogs because in the Muslim faith dogs are seen as unclean but cats are seen as more acceptable because of the faith's hadiths i.e. teachings, and of course the Prophet's reputation as being a cat lover. The future of dogs in Kabul is tenuous because of this gross act of speciesism.

P.S. Animals can't board RAF planes according to the MOD. This perhaps explains the lack of pets on planes?

Taliban presence may close Kabul animal shelter Nowzad. Animals may be euthanised

This is an example of why we must include animals in the conversation about the Taliban taking control of Afghanistan. Pen Farthing is an ex-marine who has had two tours of duty in the Middle East. He is the founder of Nowzad, an animal rescue which reunites military personnel with the animals that they rescued on the frontline. 

Pen Farthing at Nowzad the animal charity and rescue he founded and runs in Kabul. Photo: Nowzad.

As I understand it, Nowzad ships these animals out to the USA normally where they can be reunited with their human companion after their tour of duty. It's a very expensive operation as you can imagine and Mr Farthing had an amazing ability to raise money to rescue cats and dogs and get them out of Afghanistan into nice homes. It's an invaluable service to the animals and indeed to his 24 employees which include women.

Dr Hamida one of 24 personnel at the shelter. Photo: Nowzad.

You can imagine how Nowzad workers are feeling as just this morning the Taliban took control of Kabul and the rest of the country. They've promised that they won't harm people and that girls can go to school et cetera but who believes them? They constantly carry weapons. They have an incredibly poor track record in terms of human rights. They have demonstrated violent misogynistic behaviour. The women of Kabul are terrified and as mentioned there are several employed by Nowzad. And if their human rights record is crap, how do you think they treat animals?

Mr Farthing is terrified for his staff and the animals. I don't think he can function normally under the Taliban. It would seem likely that he has to close his excellent animal rescue organisation but I sincerely hope that he does not feel that he has to put to sleep all 216 animals comprising 140 dogs, 60 cats, 12 donkeys, two horses, one goat and one bull currently in his care.

Mr Farthing said:

"Were desperately worried and concerned and I think probably now a very real sinking realisation that we may well have to just put all our animals to sleep because that'll be the kindest thing to do.”

He also said:

"We know from prior experience the Taliban don't have much thought for human life, let alone animal welfare."

He has also said:

"The Taliban banned dog ownership when in power last time. And it's just too much of a risk. Never, ever did I want to put dogs to sleep."

One of the female employees appears to be a veterinarian as shown in a photograph is on this page with a puppy. Mr Farthing is shocked at the developments. And he said that he feels ashamed at the turn of events following the decision to pull out US troops. A move followed by allies including British troops. The world is shocked at the speed at which the Taliban have taken control of the country.

What has happened leads us to believe that the past 20 years and $1 trillion of investment into the country has been a complete waste of time. The US and allies have poured money and people into the country to try and change it but all they've achieved is to prop up a weak and ineffective government who have run away as soon as the Allies decided to go home. 

They propped up a shell government and they left behind hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of military equipment which I presume has been seized by the Taliban. The highly trained Afghan military dissolved and disappeared in the face of Taliban with Kalashnikov rifles. It's pathetic, sad and embarrassing.

And now, animal advocates are facing the prospect of 216 animals being put down. It's horrible. And depressing. And what about all the other companion animals in Kabul, for instance? Many people are leaving the city. Are they leaving behind the pets? And the stray and feral animals? What about them? We must remember them and their suffering.

Update: there are calls for the staff to be evacuated to the UK. Mr Farthing will not leave his team of 24 Afghan nationals. There is a campaign to get them to the UK and it is backed by comedian Ricky Gervais's and actors Dame Judi Dench and Peter Egan. They are calling for the entire staff at the shelter to be given British visas. In addition, Nowzad is fundraising to hire a cargo plane to fly out as many of the dogs and cats as possible. It is called Operation Ark. 

Update: The flight was initially blocked by the British government as they did not want animals flying out before humans even though the flight is privately funded. Today, 25th Aug, Wallace the Defense Secretary has relented and will allow the flight to take place and the staff and animals to enter the UK (Sky News). The problem now is that the Taliban has refused Afghanis to leave the country.

The shelter has not only saved the lives of many animals but also educated many people on animal welfare. The staff have worked tirelessly to protect and treat animals in their care. They cannot be left to the Taliban and their murderous ways.

Ricky Gervais's is a patron of Nowzad and he has put his weight behind the campaign and said:

"Pen Farthing and his team Nowzad have done amazing work for over a decade in Kabul, they have saved thousands of dogs and provided work for the local community and instigated educational programmes which have benefited their community. Their lives are now in danger. They need our help now."

Update one day later: In a news conference, the Taliban made all the right noises to try and convince the world that they want a peaceful Islamic state. Let's see if they are genuine.

This video is shocking. WARNING. It shows Afghani nationals falling from a plane that they had clung to. Totally impossible and a certain death. CLICK HERE TO SEE IT ON YOUTUBE. I can't show it here as it may upset Google Adsense.

Update: this is October 10, 2021. You may have heard the news that Mr Farthing managed to get back to England with the animals in a specially chartered plane. There was great difficulty and a lot of stress. But he achieved it. The animals were taken to shelters for quarantine in England. He had to leave the staff behind. Today, the news is that his staff went overland to Pakistan and from Islamabad in Pakistan they have now all managed to fly into the UK during September. 

So he has got his animals and his staff out of Afghanistan which is an enormous achievement. His staff are in the UK to stay and they will forge the new careers in this country. I believe that one or two of them are veterinarians and they will be checked and if necessary retrained to make sure that they comply with UK standards. Then they can work in this country as vets because there is a need for more veterinary surgeons in this country.

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Greece forest fires: 'miracle dog' saved himself by hiding in an outside oven for 3 days

This is the story of a 'miracle dog' found alive hiding in an oven after one of the many devastating Greek wildfires that have torn through the country. In another article I have written about homeowners and occupiers evacuating their homes without taking their pets with them. I have questioned why. Were they given short notice? If so, why were they given short notice to evacuate? Did they have time to take their pets with them? Is there a culture problem here? So many questions. 

 Greece forest fires: 'miracle dog' saved himself by hiding in an outside oven. Photo: The Times.

But they are valid because something is wrong because the volunteers who rescued these animals; cats, dogs, horses and donkeys have said that typically the owners evacuated without their animal companions. What is going on? Surely there was time to take their pets and even horses with them?

It's all about preparation but they must have known the fires were coming or there was a possibility of the fires arriving at least a day or two in advance. I am disappointed with what I read.

The Times reports that rescuers were less than hopeful about finding survivors to the Greek wildfires causing death and destruction around and in the town of Mati. No less than 10 days after the fire broke out a white poodle-cross was found hiding in an outside oven. They have called the poodle the "Miracle Dog".

The dog's name is Loukoumakis. He was discovered traumatised and unable to move with singed fur. Why was he left behind? I would like answers to that question and I don't mind if I'm being rude in asking it.

The news media have simply avoided the central questions - the important animal welfare backstory. The questions I'm asking relate to proactive measures to prevent harm to companion animals. Everything that I am reading is about reactive actions by volunteer rescuers, which is far less efficient and sensible.

When you look at Loukoumakis' fur and his general appearance he looks neglected. His appearance would not have happened over three days living in an oven. It indicates to me that this dog was neglected and that neglect extended to leaving him behind when the fires approached the house.

I suspect that the problem is that there is a general sense of chaos and panic in dealing with these forest fires. I don't think it would have happened in Japan for instance where they have a more organised culture. Look at the Olympic Games which appear to have been highly organised. There is this rather laissez-faire attitude in the Mediterranean European countries which I believe perpetuates poor animal welfare. I would like to see change in the southern European states. Are they complying with EU animal welfare standards? I doubt it.

I know that in Greece their reputation with respect to the welfare of the street cats is poor. I have written about this many years ago. Greece is a member of the European Union. They should set the same animal welfare standards as other states in the EU. I sense that they do not.

Post-pandemic surge in cat adoptions in UK

NEWS AND COMMENT: There was a surge in dog adoptions, mainly purchases of purebred, small dogs, during the coronavirus pandemic. In the UK, the pandemic, as we know it, is nearing its end, we hope. That is the general consensus and it is due to the great success of the vaccination programme which combined with a high level of infections without bad symptoms in unvaccinated, young people has resulted in near herd immunity. Once we get to herd immunity you could probably argue that the pandemic in the UK is over.

Couple of shelter cats ready for adoption as a pair.

Click for factors affecting the success rate of shelter adoptions.

And at this time the Pets4Homes last quarterly report tells us that almost as many cats were rehomed in the first half of 2021 compared with all of 2020. The number rehomed this year so far is 156,193 whereas for all of last year the number is 179,298.

In contrast, dog adoptions have faded from their peak when there was this manic desire to adopt a dog during lockdown. The report states that the previous trends are in reverse with an increased number of available cats and dogs for rehoming. They say that the number of companion animals available for rehoming has risen dramatically. 

Comment: this appears to be a result of impulsive purchases of dogs resulting in a relinquishment of those dogs once the adopters returned to normal in terms of their employment. In short, it appears that some people adopted a companion animal simply for the duration of the pandemic lockdowns.

The report states that the slowdown in demand for dog has come about at the same time that there has been an increase in demand for cats. I don't know what we can make of that. I know we can understand why dogs were adopted during the pandemic. And we understand why they've been abandoned after the pandemic. But why are more cats being adopted at this time?

Perhaps things have got back to normal, more or less. Throughout 2020, which was the year of the pandemic, with social distancing and lockdowns, there was a surge in dog adoptions. That probably weakened demand for cats because the focus was on dogs. When those pressures to adopt a dog had passed people reverted back to adopting shelter cats hence the statistics mentioned above in the second paragraph. 

A key aspect of choosing cats over dogs is that they are perceived as being more suitable for working owners who are away from the home for long periods. This is actually not necessarily true but the belief that it is true has fueled the increase in cat adoptions now that employees are returning to the office to work rather than working from home.

Help! Five conjoined kittens born at Little Whiskers Animal Rescue, Arizona

🚨 🚨 EMERGENCY VET HELP NEEDED!! A few days ago we had a person come to our rescue to surrender a mom and babies and...

Posted by Little Whiskers Animal Rescue on Thursday, April 1, 2021

The Facebook post provides you with the story which first emerged about a month ago from this Arizona animal rescue, Little Whiskers Animal Rescue. The rescue still needs financial help I am sure.

 

It looks as if a cat hoarder was divesting themselves of the cats that they had hoarded (29+)  and among them was a female who gave birth to 5 conjoined kittens. I think they phoned the rescue to say they were coming in with the cats.

This presented a problem for the rescue because of the extra expense in vet bills. So they appealed for help and you can see that appeal in the Facebook post above. 

By the way, sometimes these sorts of embedded posts stop working because they are removed from the source which in this instance is the Facebook website. If that has happened I apologise. 

Apparently the kittens were joined by the skin of their belly so I believe that they have been separated although one sibling had to have a leg removed in order to separate them out. 

The prognosis looked hopeful but as is normally the case I can't right now find a follow-up article on the Internet to tell me what happened. It would be nice to know that they all survived and are doing well so that, in due course, they can be rehomed. 

The causes of conjoined kittens or of babies are somewhat mysterious. My quick research on this indicated that the experts are unsure why it happens but it is clearly a developmental problem which may be caused because of a genetic defect or possibly drugs or chemicals in the cat which interrupted the development of these kittens. 

Clearly the development of the kittens will include their separation and that seems to have stopped and parts of them has been merged. No doubt this is a rare event which is why it got a loss of news coverage online.

There is definitely a dearth of information on the internet on the causes of conjoined animals. There is almost nothing on the causes of conjoined kittens. This may be because it is so rare. There is no need to do research on this congenital defect.

PETA gives "Hero to Animals Award" to the Thai Navy

This is a quick follow-up to a story that went viral. The Thai Navy saved 4 cats from a sinking boat after the engine caught fire. The cats moved to the bow of the ship and the men got off and were rescued but the cats were left behind. In an act of great enlightenment and a delight to animal lovers the Thai Navy rescued all 4 cats. It was great to see animals given equal rights to humans under the circumstances.

PETA grants "Hero to Animals Award" to the Thai Navy for their rescue of 4 cats from
a sinking boat. Photo: Thai Navy.

It wasn't an easy rescue. It's quite hard to take hold of 4 cats on a large boat that has almost sunk and transport them across about 30 yards of water to the Navy's ship. It was quite a dangerous operation. The cats cooperated which indicates how frightened they must have been and they appear to have been appreciative of the rescue.

You can read about the story by clicking on this link.

The senior vice president of PETA, Jason Baker said:

PETA hopes that their example will inspire everyone to keep an eye out for animals in danger and do whatever it takes to get them to safety."

He also said that the sailors' courageous and compassionate actions made a big impact across the world. They certainly did. As mentioned, the news went viral. It indicates, by the way, that the average citizen in the average country really appreciates animal welfare. They want to see animals treated properly.

It is therefore always shocking to me that there is so much animal abuse in the world. It appears that there is a minority of people, perhaps a very small minority of people who abuse animals and exploit them. If that's true, surely it is not beyond the bounds of the imagination of humankind to tackle animal abuse more effectively by targeting these people.

Has there been a study on the kind of section of society where animal abuse takes place? I know that we can profile animal abusers. I just think more work needs to be done on targeting abusers. Society wants to see it happen. The viral story of the Thai Navy strongly indicates that people like to see animal rescue and therefore they want to see an improvement in animal welfare. Let's try and achieve that with a bit more purpose.

Cat thrown away in Russia saved from a waste processing plant

This video, in a tweet on the Twitter.com website, shows us a Russian waste processing plant worker removing a tuxedo cat from a sack inside a box next to a fast moving conveyor belt on which there is a ton of waste products being conveyed to a device which probably crushes it. 

If the worker in the video had decided to throw the sack onto the conveyor belt the cat would have been killed in minutes. So this man has been praised for rescuing this cat. The cat was apparently healthy and has been checked out by a veterinarian. The cat has also been taken to the ministry in charge of waste in Russia where he will be looked after by the employees and I would hope live out the rest of his life safely. 

The minister in charge has praised the employee who saved the cat and in a commonsense way advised that if people don't want to keep their cat they can take the animal to a shelter rather than putting them into a bag and throwing a bag on the rubbish dump. Common sense indeed but it takes a particularly callous person to do it.

Кота в завязанном мешке обнаружили на мусоросортировочном комплексе по обработке ТКО в Ульяновске. Он мог бы попасть в сепаратор, если бы не бдительность одного из работников.

Видео: vk/gorkomhoz73 pic.twitter.com/HO2ExUJpEn

— ТАСС (@tass_agency) December 22, 2020

This sort of human behaviour is not confined, obviously, to Russia. It happens everywhere on the planet and is a wanton example of animal abuse. To treat a sentient being as an item of rubbish is psychopathic behaviour. But you might be surprised how often it happens. There are countless examples on the Internet of domestic cats being abandoned deep in the countryside in cat carriers which are locked, incidentally, where they die of starvation. Or kittens are thrown out of car windows when crossing a busy junction. The chances of the kitten surviving under those circumstances are remote but some remarkably do. And there are some equally remarkable rescues from busy roads by decent people and sometimes police officers. They rescue the cats at a genuine danager to themselves.

Translation of the tweet: "A cat in a tied sack was found at a waste sorting complex for MSW processing in Ulyanovsk. He could have got into the separator, if not for the vigilance of one of the workers."

The best thing about this Russian cat rescue is that we have it on video, I suppose because the facility has inbuilt security cameras which record everything. The bloke who took the cat out of the sack was obliged to do it under the terms of his employment so it was not a deliberate act of cat rescue. He was just looking for certain objects which cannot be placed on the conveyor belt. He, therefore, had to open the sack to see what was inside. Tuxedo cats are black cats with a small white areas on the front, on their chest. They may have white paws but by and large they are wholly black cats with small areas of white caused by the piebald gene.

The power of Facebook in rescuing animals internationally

This is an uplifting story from both Scotland and Egypt. The story starts badly with pictures of what would have been a beautiful white, long-haired, yellow-eyed cat of what appears to be of Persian origin, covered in purple and cyan paint. We are told that this beautiful cat was badly beaten and then covered in this toxic paint. We don't know the reason. There is no reason. It's the sort of cat abuse that you see anywhere in the world. Probably caused by a couple of kids having fun.

Rainbow - before and after. Photo: Debbie Stephens (SWNS).

Fortunately, the story picks up and gets a lot better because Debbie Stephens saw a picture of this cat on Facebook on the cat rescue page Safe Haven Egypt.

Debbie, 56, agreed with her husband, Craig, to fly this beautiful cat to Scotland. The cat rescue organisation named the cat Rainbow and he's arrived in Scotland after months of delay because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The picture of the painted cat broke Debbie's heart. She said that he is very loving and that his ordeal has not changed his character. The struggle to adopt was quite long because Debbie first approached Safe Haven Egypt in November 2019.

Rainbow's coat was shaved off and has regrown. A few blotches of paint remain. The cat's name is a reminder to Debbie of what happened to him so she kept it.

"It feels good we have been able to give him a forever home and we are very pleased as he could have died after what he had been through." - Debbie

Safe Haven Egypt is a cat sanctuary run by volunteers in Cairo. They have been in operation since 2015 and it was set up by a couple of friends, Kareema Ibraheem and Walae Besade. Kareema said that when they found Rainbow he was terrified. No doubt he is now relaxed, contented and in good hands. Well done to Debbie and Safe Haven Egypt.

280 Cats Rescued from Cat Rescue Organisation

This might be a record for the number of cats to be rescued from, yes, a cat rescue organization. As it happens the organization concerned, Fur'N Feather Farm, rescues cats and birds judging by the title. It is located in Plant City, Florida, USA.

Lori Letzring, manager for pet resources and community services.

The 280 cats were seized because of health concerns. Florida Fish and Wildlife are helping out with respect to the birds. They were unsure how many cats there were inside the house as people were unable to enter it. I believe they have now entered it wearing protective gear.

Six cats have been euthanized. They were too sick. They had multiple health problems such as parasites, dehydration and respiratory infections. There are no reports at the time whether the owner of the organization is going to be charged with a criminal offense.

The organization's Facebook page has been taken down, which is a shame because it would have been useful with respect to photographs and more information.

Fox13 say that 247 cats have been rescued. However, they also say the number could be higher as the place is searched. A woman runs the shelter. I should say ran the shelter. We don't have her name. That is all I have for the time being.

Comment: it is not that uncommon for cats to be rescued from so-called rescue organizations or cat shelters. This is because the owner and manager and often the only worker becomes out of her depth and can't cope. They can't admit that it's gone wrong. They may even be hoarders in which case there would be borderline personality disorders causing the problem.

A Week in the Life of Wanderers' Rest Animal Shelter, Canastota NY

It has been one of those weeks at the Wanderers' Rest animal shelter. It probably isn't all that different from normal though.

Firstly, a lady saw someone throw a garbage bag from the window of a moving car. You can guess what was inside the back, can't you? Yes, you're right, the bag contained 12 kittens and cats, of which 2 had died.  The lady who watched this despicable act recovered the bag and found homes for 5 of the cats. She gave the remaining 5 to the shelter. We read quite a few stories about kittens and cats being thrown out of the window of moving cars. It is totally beyond my comprehension how anybody can do it. The people must be totally desensitised to any form of decent behaviour.

On the same day a woman who appears to be a serial cat hoarder received a visit from animal control who remove 15 cats from her home. The year before 20 cats were removed from her home.  Eight cats remained. No doubt something similar will transpire in another 12 months. The humane educator at the shelter says something that we probably already know, namely that cat hoarding is a mental illness so there is not much point being very critical of the cat hoarding lady. She needs treatment rather than punishment.

In the same week on July 18 a dog control officer discovered a cage in bushes outside his home. Inside the cage were 12 cats. Somebody appears to have abandoned the 12 cats in a rather peculiar way but in an equally abusive and callous way.

The week appears to have been a bit unusual due to the nature of the abandonments but I suspect not that unusual because the shelter housed almost 1000 cats over the past year and about 600 dogs. They are stretched to capacity and make the usual plea, “We need foster homes desperately".

Source story.