Ex-Marine Pen Farthing's Nowzad charity to supply aid to animal shelters in Ukraine

A former Royal Marine from Plymouth who safely got dozens of animals and shelter staff out of Afghanistan is now working to help others in Ukraine.

Pen Farthing set up his charity Nowzad in Afghanistan but was forced to evacuate his shelter and all its animals when the Taliban took over.

Now his charity is setting up a 'staging post' in eastern Poland where it will collect supplies before taking them onward to rescue shelters in Ukraine.

"The Nowzad charity, with your help, will be preparing to be ready to support and resupply as many Ukrainian rescue shelters and their courageous brave staff who stayed behind to care for the animals who could not be evacuated, as we can," the charity said.

"We are extremely proud to the see the rescue community that has come together to support Ukrainians who are fleeing the country with their pets and we commend those rescue groups for their efforts to provide relief and assistance at the border crossings."

The charity's own evacuation from Afghanistan was only seven months ago and it is still working to re-home the animals brought to the UK as part of its 'Operation Ark'.

For that reason, the charity says it will not directly be working to bring animals back to the UK.

"As Nowzad does not own or manage kennelling facilities in the UK or USA we will not be rescuing dogs and cats with the intention of bringing them to be re-homed in the west," it said.

"We are extremely proud to the see the rescue community that has come together to support Ukrainians who are fleeing the country with their pets and we commend those rescue groups for their efforts to provide relief and assistance at the border crossings."

Nowzad is now asking for donations to help set up the base in Poland and rebuild destroyed or damaged shelters in Uktaine.