Pen Farthing says the workers he left in Kabul are ‘terrified’

A former Royal Marine criticized for taking away nearly 200 dogs and cats Afghanistan Revealed today that it is still working to get around 70 of its ‘terrified’ employees out of the country.

Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing says he is working every day to ‘get them out’ from Kabul and talks to them daily amid ongoing controversy over claims that people prioritize pets over them.

Mr Farthing, now in Oslo with his wife Kaisa, was allowed to board the flight with his cats and dogs – but was forced to leave his staff members behind. British soldiers helped load the animals into privately chartered aircraft as they prepared to return to Britain.

in an interview with BBC The former Royal Marines of Essex said on Radio 5 Live: ‘We are not giving up. People think I’ve kicked the animals out, that’s all. It’s not. Operation Ark was always people and animals. I talk to him everyday. They are afraid. Our small operation room is still running every day to get them out.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has complained that some of Mr Farthing’s more extremist supporters “took too much time” by senior British commanders trying to get humans out of the country.

Mr Farthing said today that his employees were stopped from leaving Kabul by a Taliban commander at the airport.

Pen Farthing (pictured with wife Kaisa Markhus), who walked through the Taliban-controlled barbed-wire entrance into Kabul airport with 150 dogs and cats from his animal rescue charity four days ago, shared the pain and uncertainty of leaving the Afghan capital. Remembered that

It took some time to get the visa from the British government. Had I hit them harder and got the visa a day earlier, we could have been successful.

He added: ‘They had the correct paperwork from the British government to go in, but Joe Biden changed the rules two hours ago to state that only people with visas with passports would be allowed into the airport .

‘I pleaded, pleaded, pleaded with the Taliban commander. I was on the ground, pleading with him and he stuck an AK 47 on my face. There was nothing I could do.’

Farthing’s supporter Dominic Dyer, who assisted with the operation, has said 100 dogs and 70 cats across the UK are in ‘very good condition’, with hundreds wanting to adopt them.

Mr Dyer said: ‘We had a good action plan and the animals are doing very well in the kennel – and despite the arduous journey, they have been durable and tough.

‘While the animals will start to be resettled in the next few weeks, we have hundreds of people for each dog or cat- so it is very possible that all of them will be adopted and taken in by different families.

‘They are some of the most famous animals in the world right now, so there will be no shortage, but we want to be clear that this is not first come first served.

‘Naujad is only a small donation so the process will be slow and a lot of work has to be done.’

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said supporters of the former Royal Marines demanding the evacuation of the animals from Afghanistan have taken “too much time” from senior commanders dealing with the humanitarian crisis.

Pen Farthing’s rescued dogs have begun their quarantine at a sanctuary in Britain, as a war of words over how people were left behind in Afghanistan, while veteran animals continue to make it out of the country .

Mr Faiththing’s staff and 179 cats and dogs near the airport in Kabul as they try to flee the country

He said there would be a ‘screening process’ to select the most suitable homes for the animals.

Mr Farthing is still working to help evacuate 68 Naujad animal shelter workers and family members from Afghanistan, including 25 children and a newborn.

Despite receiving massive amounts of public support, the Operation Ark campaign has caused controversy.

The ex-Marine also apologized for leaving a derogatory message to the government aide as he was trying to make an evacuation.