Whilst The Powder Puffington Post looks to make people aware of all types of causes out there (not just animal causes), sometimes we stumble upon a story that mixes all of our causes together and we are happy to put a spotlight on them.
Today's post is about war and how animals are also the victims too as this is also their planet. Sergeant Pen Farthing has written a book based on his experience of being stationed in Afghanistan in the town of Now Zad and eventually creating by no plan of his own a dog sanctuary in the autumn of 2006.
Sergeant Farthing first started creating an animal sanctuary by rescuing a dog that was caught in a barbwire noose. Risking his life and crossing a road that had minefields, Sergeant Farthing cut the dog loose. That was his first dog rescue.
After awhile more opportunities for saving dogs came as the local Afghan police were using the stray dogs for dog fights. Sergeant Farthing would cut the dogs free from the barbwire collars used to keep the dogs trapped and mean. The dogs would then run off and join a pack of strays that numbered approximately 50 dogs.
Because Sergeant Farthing was the owner of two dogs back home he did his best to discourage dog fights even though as a soldier it was just his job to be there as a protector of the local people. However witnessing the dog fights and seeing dogs with stubs for ears, Sergeant Farthing was moved to do more and used his gun to scare away the spectators and save the dogs. A few days later one of the dogs that Sergeant Farthing saved showed up at the soldier's compound. At first Sergeant Farthing thought the dog was going to attack him but when he fed the dog he started to make a friend for life. Over time the dog kept on showing up at the compound and he was named Nowzad and because a sort of mascot for the soldiers.
Sergeant Farthing asked his wife Lisa back home if she could research any animal rescue centers in Afghanistan so he could have Nowzad rescued as he had grown attached to the dog and wanted to make sure when he and his troops left in the coming months Nowzad would be safe. He created in their compound a sort of a dog run. Then not long after another dog made his way to the compound. He was a very erratic dog but good natured and played well with Nowzad. It was decided he could stay and he was named RPG as he was as crazy as a missile (just like we named Q-Ball after a billiard ball as she moved like cue ball on a pool table).
After that Sergeant Farthing saved a female dog who was tied to a post so other fighting dogs can breed with her. She also became a member of the animal sanctuary and was named Jena after the American porn star. Soon after Sergeant Farthing became aware that Jena was carrying a litter of puppies. The number of dogs that he had to have rescued was growing by the day. Soon after a dog that had been bitten by a snake in the neck was treated by the medics. They kept her and named her AK. Nowzad decided to start acting like a mad dog and started misbehaving with the other dogs. He was kicked out of the compound for one night, however one night outside the compound being pounded with shells from the Taliban was enough for Nowzad to decide to behave again and he was let back in.
The last dog to join the group was Tali (named for the Taliban). Tali had just given birth to a litter of puppies and found a small hole at the bottom of one of the compound walls and worked all day to stuff her puppies through the tiny hole as she somehow knew that her puppies would be safe from the war in the compound. All the soldiers wondered if there was some secret language that the dogs relayed to each other to let each other know that the compound was a sanctuary for them. The compound now had 5 adult dogs and 14 puppies. Sergeant Farthing's wife Lisa however came through and managed to find a animal rescue shelter hundreds of miles away.
There were strict rules and the animals could not have been transported with military vehicles. The soldiers raised the money to have the animals transported to the shelter using civilian assistance. The soldier's time at the compound was soon coming to an end and Sergeant Farthing was waiting everyday to hear of when the dogs would be transported but the days kept on passing with no news of the transport. Sergeant Farthing was worried about letting the dogs stay on their own as he felt he would be leaving them to certain death by shells, starvation and certain cruel villagers who wanted to use the dogs for dog fights. A villager named Rosi had promised he would feed the dogs when the troops left Nowzad and he had to have faith in man that Rosi would take care of the dogs.
The last day of stay in Nowzad came and the troops all got ready to leave the town when a local policeman came running to Sergeant Farting yelling, "Taxi, taxi!" The transportation had come to take the dogs to safety and Sergeant Farthing was able to see for himself the dogs being rescued.
Sergeant Farthing's book One Dog At A Time, describes his and his troops humane actions towards animals in their time in Afghanistan and comes out in February. Now this is a must read in our household. I've included some pictures of the dogs Sergeant Pen Farthing saved along with a shot of the hero himself. This story makes me have faith in humans. Chow for now!
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