Vivapets Blog

An animal welfare hero from Essex who rescues street dogs from Afghanistan war zones is to receive a special award at the House of Lords from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (www.ifaw.org).

Former Marine Sergeant Pen Farthing (40) set up the charity Nowzad Dogs after being moved by the plight of abandoned and mistreated dogs while on a tour of duty in the Now Zad area of HelmandProvince, southern Afghanistan, almost three years ago.

Pet dogs were left to fend for themselves on the streets as local people fled the fighting, with many then being used by gangs for organised dog fights which resulted in serious injury or death. After Pen intervened to stop one such fight and free the victims, one of the dogs involved, later nicknamed Nowzad, found its way into the marine compound after him. Others soon followed, including a young stray female, later named Tali, who also crawled under the wire fence to safety, after carefully carrying through each of her six newborn pups, one by one.

Pen and his fellow marines began feeding and caring for these strays and even built them their own underground mortar shelter. Worried what would happen to the dogs when the time came for the marines to leave three months later, Pen began to look into ways to move the dogs out of Now Zad to an animal shelter in a safer area in the far north of the country, with help from his Navy wife Lisa (36) back in the UK.  

Pen will receive his Pets and People award at IFAW’s prestigious Animal Action Awards ceremony, hosted by Baroness Gale, at the House of Lords on October 21.

IFAW’s UK Director, Robbie Marsland said: “We are very pleased to be able to recognise Pen’s efforts. It is amazing what he and his wife have achieved and fantastic that their work in Afghanistan continues to help many more needy animals through their charity Nowzad Dogs.”

Celebrity vet Emma Milne, from TV’s Vets in Practice, nominated Pen for his award and said: “I am delighted that Pen is receiving this award from IFAW in honour of his amazing efforts to rescue these dogs and offer them a brighter future. His story is truly inspirational.”

While most of the dogs cared for at the base were eventually moved to the shelter for rehoming, Nowzad had struck a particularly special chord with Pen who decided to adopt him and take him home to a better life in the UK. As news of Pen and Lisa’s efforts spread back home, donations began to trickle in and they set up the official charity, Nowzad Dogs (www.nowzaddogs.co.uk) to fund the work.

Pen has since retired from service and devotes much of his time to running the charity with assistance from Lisa. While the main aim is to rescue strays for rehoming within Afghanistan, the couple also adopted Tali. One of Tali’s puppies, Helmand, was also brought to the UK where he lives with Lisa’s parents.

Pen has since written a book about the dogs, One Dog at a Time: Saving the strays of Helmand, with proceeds going to the charity. He is currently writing a follow-up while continuing to support work to rescue dogs in need all over Afghanistan. The charity also works to improve educational opportunities for potential vets in the country.