A FORMER Royal Marine is racing against time to save 173 rescue cats and dogs plus their carers facing death in Afghanistan.
Paul “Pen” Farthing, 57, has booked a charter mercy flight to evacuate staff at his centres and their animals.
Nowzad — the charity founded by the ex-Colour Sergeant in 2007 — has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to lay on the private plane in a mission named Operation Ark.
He wants to fly out 94 dogs, 79 cats plus himself and 68 Afghan refugees from the charity’s animal shelter in Taliban-controlled Kabul.
But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace labelled the plan “b***cks” and said people had to come first.
Pen last night replied: “Wallace is signing these dogs’ death warrants — and likewise the people.
“We want to bring in an aircraft with 250 seats and we need only 69 of them. The MoD can stick whoever they want in the other seats.
“I don’t care. We are paying for it. It costs the taxpayer nothing and could be a bit of good news.”
If he cannot get the animals out, he will have to face the heartbreak decision of putting them down.
Comedian Ricky Gervais supports the project and tweeted in a foul-mouthed post: “Dear stupid c***s saying we shouldn’t put animals before people . . .
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“The animals go in the hold where people can’t go. This is an extra, privately funded plane that will allow more people to be saved.
“Pen Farthing is brave and kind. Such honour should be rewarded. He is still trying to save others in the face of grave danger. He shouldn’t be left behind. And they rescued a f**ing car. Shame.”
That was a reference to pictures of British troops flying out an armoured vehicle while thousands of desperate Afghans are stranded outside Kabul airport, being blocked from boarding flights by the Taliban.
Officials insisted the car was a diplomatic vehicle and that there was empty space on the flight.
Pen, who served in Helmand province in Afghanistan in 2006, said all he needs is approval to land a plane at the airport.
All the dogs and cats from Nowzad’s three sites have been relocated to the charity’s headquarters.
They are cramped into kennels ready to move at a moment’s notice if they get the green light to fly.
They include a dozen British embassy cats — such as Mr Grey, Chopsy, Sweep, and Scar — which were dumped by our diplomats.
Pen said Nowzad’s staff, who have continued to work, have packed three days worth of rations — tins, biscuits and water — so the animals can survive at the airport if they have to wait for the flight.
And they have filled a room with travel crates ready to transport them.
But Pen knows the clock is running against them.
He says it will be too dangerous for him to remain in Afghanistan under Taliban rule when foreign forces leave next week.
He added: “The Taliban may have changed but I don’t want to be here to find out.”
If he has to destroy the animals, one of the first to go would be his beloved Dakota, who has only three legs and is partly paralysed so shuffles around on her rump.
Pen admitted: “What else can I do with her? This is her home.
“This is what she knows. She won’t last one night on the outside.”
Some of the dogs already have homes waiting in England and have had their rabies tests.
The rest would have to quarantine.
Pen added: “The public response has been amazing. I had 33,000 emails over last weekend.
“People have volunteered to support our staff and their families.
“The vets have even got job offers once they have retrained.”
AGONISING CALL
Pen has already made the agonising call to release some of the most recently rescued strays back on to the streets.
A dozen of the oldest dogs and a couple of cats that needed surgery have been put down.
Mr Wallace insisted Pen’s staff had all been offered flights out of the country but said they “would have to queue up at the airport with all other Afghan nationals”.
He snapped: “It’s about getting onto the airfield. If he was to get to their airfield now, I would have to push people out of the way to prioritise his people onto an airplane that is there.”
Pen declined to reveal his plan to get past the Taliban guards but he said: “I think Mr Wallace forgets what I used to do for a living.
“He thinks that when he tells me to stop, I’ll just stop. I have said I am going to do something, I am going to do it. Royal Marines don’t just give up.”
One government source said: “We have got to prioritise. We cannot have 200 dogs running past humans trying to get out of an absolutely horrendous situation.”
Whitehall insiders claimed that they were trying to get Pen’s staff out of Afghanistan but insisted it was very unlikely that the animals would be rescued.
However, HOAR understands officials in the Environment Department have been working on contingency plans to put the animals in quarantine if they do land in Britain.
