Website September 2021 Update

Early this year, and prior to the US and allies’ troops withdrawal from Afghanistan, we were approached for funding of medical supplies and equipment for the animal charity Nowzad. Having investigated what they were doing, we agreed to make a donation and the funds were very gratefully received.

You may have seen a lot in the press about the withdrawal of the US and allies. Whatever your opinion or views, there can be no doubting the commitment of Pen Farthing and his colleagues to the animals in their care (and the commitment – which is ongoing – of Pen to his staff).

Without depriving any human evacuee of a place on a departing aircraft, using the cargo hold of a plane chartered by Pen, he successfully evacuated nearly all of the animals in his care. The animal refuge centre in the UK which received them (and is undertaking the animals’ quarantine, prior to their adoptions) has commented on the good health in which the animals were received thanks to the care they received from Pen and his colleagues and, we would like to think, in some small part due to the medical supplies and equipment to which the Foundation contributed.

It is sad to think that Nowzad’s work in Afghanistan has had to come to an end, but we were very pleased to learn that the evacuated animals are healthy and will continue to receive care until they are adopted. 

These developments were reported at the end of August 2021 by the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-essex-58409613

 Nowzad is a charity that helps the animals and the people of Afghanistan. 

The war-torn country has seen decades of conflict resulting in wide scale disease and suffering amongst the huge population of stray and abandoned animals. The absence of any animal welfare or veterinary facilities has also had a huge impact on the people. Diseases such as rabies are rife and pose a real and constant threat to people, particularly children. Impoverished families suffer greatly when their livestock or working donkey dies due to the lack of veterinary treatment.

Nowzad works to address these issues. Their holistic approach of alleviating the suffering of the animals and helping the people has been very much welcomed in the poor communities in which they work.

The Nowzad Charity was founded in 2007 by Pen Farthing, a former Royal Marine. The charity was originally formed to help soldiers rescue stray animals they had befriended whilst serving in Afghanistan. However, their main priority now is to help the animals and the people of the war-torn country. To this end, in 2011 they opened the only permanent officially sanctioned animal shelter and veterinary clinic in Afghanistan in Kabul. In 2016 they became an NGO. In 2017 they won the Global Alliance for Rabies Control Award (Asia) and expanded their facilities to include a treatment centre and sanctuary for working equines.

For many years there have been virtually no animal welfare or veterinary facilities in Afghanistan. Consequently, there is a huge population of stray and abandoned animals, suffering and disease is widespread.  Their clinic is constantly busy treating sick and injured animals. Neutering and vaccination are an extremely important part of their work, this is a humane and effective way of reducing the animal population and disease. 

The ongoing security and coronavirus situation in Afghanistan is extremely challenging but there is a vast amount of work to be done.

The Gregory Mills Foundation has provided a grant to Nowzad which will be used to purchase equipment, medical supplies and vaccines for the animas in their care.

For more information: https://www.nowzad.com