The UK government worked hard to get 173 rescue cats and dogs out of Afghanistan but critics are asking why animals were priortized

• Former Royal Marine Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing runs an animal rescue charity in Afghanistan.
• The UK Government ordered a charter flight to evacuate Farthing and his 200 animals out of Kabul.
• Critics have asked why the animals are out when people are still stuck.
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The British Government intervened to support Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing and his q73 rescue animals’ journey from Afghanistan to the UK.

Farthing, a former Royal Marine, founder of the Nowzad animal care charity in Kabul, is now poised to leave Afghanistan with his animals.

Confirming the news on Twitter, the UK Ministry of Defence stated that British armed forced had assisted Farthing and his animals through Kabul airport, with a charter flight awaiting them that had been sponsored by the British Government.

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As the safety of the 94 dogs and 79 casts was confirmed – but that of Farthing’s staff was not – voices have been raised as to why the animals got out when people are still stuck?

-Ministry of Defence Press Office (@DefenceHQPress) August 27, 2021

-Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) August 25, 2021

The Telegraph reported that Ben Wallace, the UK Defence Secretary, told MPs that the mission to rescue the animals – and the attention it was receiving – was taking away resources from evacuating vulnerable people.

Wallace also used Twitter to hit back at Farthing’s supporters and condemned “bullying, falsehoods and threatening behavior” towards MoD staff saying that such views were “unacceptable.”

Tom Tugendhat, a Member of Parliament and a former army officer who served in Afghanistan, said on LBC Radio: “The difficulty is getting people into and out of the airport and we’ve just used a lot of troops to get in 200 dogs. Meanwhile, my interpreter’s family are likely to be killed.”

The LBC radio host Matt Frei asked: “What would you say if I sent an ambulance to save my dog rather than your mother?”

-Rt. Hon Ben Wallace MP (@BWallaceMP) August 26, 2021

There was speculation that Prime Minister Boris Johnson used his influence to make the evacuation of Farthing’s animals possible, as his wife, Carrie Johnson, is an animal rights activist.

Asked about the reports, Johnson said: “I’ve had absolutely no influence on any particular case, nor would that be right. That’s not, that’s not how we do things in this country,” the Evening Standard reported.

The UK evacuation efforts stopped on August 28.