Cats' Adventures & Travels

A companion page to our stories about the rescues of Koshka
and Tinker Bell & Mousetrap . . .

Rescuing Pets from Afghanistan

During the time of the occupation of Afghanistan by Western forces, several organisations there, largely in the capital Kabul, did their best to take in and look after abandoned, sick or injured cats and dogs. An important part of their work was helping to arrange transport out of the country for pets that had been befriended by service personnel, or contractors, who wished to adopt them and take them home at the end of their tour of duty. The situation changed when the Taliban assumed power in August 2021; animal welfare wasn't on their agenda, so it became necessary to try to evacuate many of the staff of the organisations and the animals in their care (see KSAR and Nowzad below). Following are the main organisations we know of that operated — and in some cases still operate — in or in connection with Afghanistan.

The Soldiers' Animals Companion Fund (SAC Fund) came into being in 2010/11 and had tax-deductible status for donations raised in the US to promote the welfare and rescue of animals in war-torn Middle Eastern countries where American troops were stationed. Its initial fundraising focus was on supporting the British charity Nowzad Dogs in Afghanistan, and then also the American charity War Dogs Making It Home (see below for details of both). The association with Nowzad seems to have ended in 2016 and it began fundraising for the British charity War Paws (also below). It closed in February 2017, but pages from its website are at the Internet Archive (start at the link below and many of the links to other pages will work, but some — and some images — may not have been captured). The SAC Facebook and Twitter accounts are still online but haven't been used since about 2017.

SAC Fund at the Internet Archive (scroll down the left column for links to other pages) | Facebook | Twitter

War Dogs Making it Home is a Chicago-based charity taking dogs from rescue shelters, and in the past some from Afghanistan, to be trained as service animals for returning veterans suffering from PTSD or brain injury. Quoting from their website: 'The veteran saves the dog, and the dog saves the veteran.'

Two websites are online as of early 2022: Site 1 and Site 2 | Facebook | Twitter

The Afghan Stray Animal League (ASAL) is a non-profit organisation based in the US that operates a shelter and vet clinic in Kabul, known as Tigger House, for homeless, abandoned, sick or injured small animals. As well as taking in and caring for the animals, it also organises adoptions in the United States. It was ASAL that helped Staff Sergeant Jesse Knott to take his feline friend Koshka back to America.

Website
We have not been able to trace anything for ASAL at Facebook or Twitter.

Kabul Small Animal Rescue (KSAR) is another organisation that retains a shelter and vet clinic in Kabul, dealing mainly with cats and dogs. In 2021 when the Taliban took over the country, KSAR had already begun efforts to evacuate a large number of the animals, but it was a campaign beset with difficulties. They persevered and, finally, almost six months later in February 2022, a large Russian cargo plane took off from Kabul bound for Vancouver in Canada, with stops for refuelling and checking on the animals in Ankara, Turkey and Keflavik, Iceland.

(Left) Russian Ilyushin cargo plane at Kabul; (centre) pre-flight checks on the animals at Kabul;
(right) the Turkish team doing welfare and veterinary checks at the Ankara stopover

On 2 February 158 dogs and 146 cats arrived safely at a prepared special facility in Vancouver. Some already had owners waiting; others would be available for adoption. It was the successful culmination of a huge amount of work from Afghanistan by Charlotte Maxwell Jones, the founder of KSAR, closely assisted by the British charity War Paws and a coalition of other international rescue organisations. A short video at Facebook here shows the plane on arrival at Vancouver airport. KSAR doesn't appear to have a website and the Twitter account was closed in 2021, but there's a very active Facebook page.

Facebook
Animals' Charities page for KSAR
Vancouver is Awesome site, 1 Feb 2022: More than 300 dogs and cats arriving in Vancouver after being rescued in Afghanistan
Vancouver is Awesome, 2 Feb 2022: Here's how hundreds of cats and dogs rescued in Afghanistan came to Canada
YouTube, 2 Feb 2022: This is the biggest animal rescue mission in the world that hit headlines all over the globe!

Nowzad, the UK-based charity, was started by former Royal Marine, Paul 'Pen' Farthing when he was serving in Helmand province in 2006, and was named after a dog he befriended and sought to return to Britain when his tour ended . Nowzad does similar work to ASAL (above), helping animals in need, arranging TNR (trap–neuter–return) for the street animals of Kabul, and it arranged transport out of the country for companion animals while Western troops were still stationed there. It assisted service personnel and contractors from various countries to transport cats and dogs from some other conflict zones too, including Iraq.

In August 2021 Nowzad was faced with the same situation as KSAR (above) as the Taliban took over the country following the United States' decision to withdraw its troops, and the consequent removal of all other Western forces. Events happened much more quickly than expected and there was a scramble for Western organisations, as well as thousands of Afghan residents, to leave the country while it was still possible — before the Taliban-imposed deadline of 31 August. There was chaos at the airport as desperate people tried to gain entry and board a plane.

Animals waiting to enter Kabul airport were on trucks in the heat,
but Nowzad staff were able to find some relief for a few in a little shade

Farthing faced innumerable difficulties, setbacks and delays in his efforts to evacuate the Nowzad animals and staff, but eventually succeeded in shipping 94 dogs and 79 cats out to the UK on a privately chartered plane — but no staff, as the Taliban claimed at the last minute that they had incorrect paperwork. The animals arrived safely in London on 29 August 2021, and after a suitable quarantine period were put up for adoption. With continued efforts and persistence many of the Nowzad staff were finally also able to reach Britain after a few more weeks. The Kabul clinic, meanwhile, remains open and is run by volunteers who, in the face of considerable ongoing difficulties, do what they can for animals in need in the city.

Website | Facebook | Twitter: Nowzad | Twitter: Pen Farthing
Devon Life, Feb 2022: Pen Farthing on Boris Johnson and Afghan dog rescue

War Paws is a UK-based charity working to rescue animals in areas of conflict such as Iraq (where they run the first ever animal shelter in that country, in partnership with a local animal welfare group, Animals of Kurdistan), Syria and Afghanistan. Many are animals that have bonded with serving members of the military or contractors. War Paws worked very closely with KSAR (above) in the ultimately successful mission to evacuate more than 300 cats and dogs from Kabul in Afghanistan to Vancouver at the beginning of February 2022.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Read the stories of three particular Afghan cats rescued by their soldiers in 2013
Koshka
Mousetrap and Tinker Bell