British Royal Marine Sergeant ‘Pen’ Farthing did not expect to befriend a dog in Afghanistan. When deployed to Nawzad (an Afghanistani town) to secure the civilians from daily attacks, he found a furry friend that would keep him company and he named the dog after the town. Today, Nowzad is a part of Farthing’s life in more ways than one. Nowzad is said to be the only pet shelter in the country, that too with numerous military security checks in Kabul. In the time since its inception, it has also reunited more than 800 dogs and cats with various soldiers from UK and US that befriended them during their stint.
In 2006, Farthing was stationed in the Helmand province in Afghanistan when he witnessed Nowzad the dog in a dogfight which is pretty common in the country. In many interviews he mentioned that a dog shelter was not in his mind when he rescued him and brought him back to England. Nowzad passed away after being a companion for seven years leaving behind a legacy of pets that comforted soldiers in the war-torn country.
On Nowzad Dogs’ facebook page, many soldiers share their stories of how pets were their saving grace in trying times. “It may seem odd to some, to be sentimental over something as trivial as developing a fondness for a wild orphaned kitten, but that is exactly what has happened,” one soldier shared. Another admitted that the highlight of his day was spending time with his pet, Marble.
“I cannot imagine leaving Marble behind in Afghanistan when it is time for me to go home, as Marble has been my comfort,” he said on the condition of anonymity. Farthing said that pets helped soldiers recover from post traumatic stress disorder.
In Ruchi Kumar’s article for The Dodo, she claims there are as many as 120 dogs, 40 cats and four donkeys that have been rescued by the shelter. They have five experienced doctors and six caretakers who work to rehabilitate dogs so that they can make the journey across the world to the hopeful pet parents. In her interview with co-founder Hannah Farthing, Kumar also pointed out the state of vet education in Afghanistan.
Kabul University runs a graduate course in veterinary science. Nowzad offers its facilities to the university students to gain a hands-on practical experience in animal care. It teaches animal care and behaviour to school children and orphanages as well.
It costs around $4,000 to transport a dog to an adopted family in the U.S. or Europe, and about $2,500 for a cat and Nowzad processes roughly around two adoptions every month. The cost for transportation is expensive and they raise funds through donations.
Mumbai resident Kumar works as a freelance journalist and media consultant in Afghanistan who lives with a cat she named ‘Bukhari’. She spoke to Homegrown about her article and the culture of keeping pets in Afghanistan. “There is no pet culture as such here,” she told us.
“I mean, they treat animals nicely, but they don’t normally adopt pets with persistent threats to their own lives. Sadly, pets are still considered as recreation, which means that it is common for the rich to have pets but not so much for the poor and even among the rich, exotic pets are preferred over rescue animals.
My neighbour used to have a pet lion, till the Kabul zoo intervened and took him away. Besides, they are still neck deep in social and economic problems, there is little time to care about others human beings, let alone animals.”
Regardless of the other external issues though, Kumar believes are things are changing, and she believes without a doubt that “Nowzad is helping with that change.”
You can read more about them here.