So he got the dogs out and left the people behind?!

[Sillysuzie]

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/30/britain-dogs-afghan-people-pen-farthing

@Kate3150

I just wish people would leave this story alone now. The media have gone to town on Pen Farthing and as usual twisted a lot of the facts. Everyone has their own opinion on this situation and gosh have people expressed their opinion, but let’s leave the guy alone for goodness sake.

Why? He’s not vulnerable or specially worthy of protection in any way.

@Tippexy

Yep, and have you heard the vile two minute voicemail rant he left?

Saint Pen isn't the hero which many of the doggie loving brigade made him out to be last week, is he?

I do think the Guardian article is unfair. I read it first thing this morning and was quite surprised because I favour the Guardian.

However, we all know what journalists are about.

@lockdownmadnessdotcom

Or that it didn’t cost his staff. They were all ready to leave on a military flight. He refused to go without the animals and in the end the people were left behind

This was my understanding too. So the animals got out, and the people were left behind.

Did he do something to prevent his staff leaving then? Or were they all adults capable of making their own choice when they were offered a flight?

actually he did get clearance for his staff - then Biden changed the paerwork rules and once past the taliban the US military would not let them through

What danger were the animals in? What will happen to the animals now they are in the U.K. why are the animals better off here? He just wanted the animals here because HE wanted them , not because they are better off because they are not. They will all have to be quarantined at great expense , some will not cope well with this, the flight will have been very distressing for them . Most will not rehomed because they will not be suitable for rehoming, they are not domesticated .

He did paint an even bigger target on their backs and then leave them though, photos and names are still up all over their social media and plenty of them have had their photos splashed over the media.

@BoredZelda

But it’s not as simple as dogs and cats taking up places that people could have occupied.

But it is as simple as dogs and cats taking up the valuable resources, time, focus of the people who were trying to get people out. Several of those who were caught up dealing with him have complained publicly about that, as has the government aide who he threatened. “You either get me that fucking Isaf number and you get me permission to get on to that fucking airfield, or tomorrow morning I’m going to turn on you and the whole fucking country, and everybody else who’s invested in this rescue, is going to know it’s you, you..”

What a lovely guy, eh?

Exactly. He demanded a whole lot of time and attention from people who were trying to get out the people who would be in danger because they actually worked for our military out there. Why on earth his dogs and cats (and even his staff, who he was trying to get ahead of the interpreters in the queue) should come first I have no idea.

Had those embassy, government and military staff been left to focus on getting those prioritised people out, maybe we wouldn't have had to leave so many behind.

BroccoliFloret well he is… he got the job done. Don’t think any of us were under illusions as to how much pressure he’d need to apply to get the job done.

Now if he was nicey nicey to all the Gov bods how would he have got the job done? And people here are expecting him to ensure safe passage for all staff (which FYI he tried to do)

Nothing like a government deflection, shows how low they’ll go to attack one man who’s just trying to help some animals, as if he should be responsible for helping all when they won’t

@Unsure33

actually he did get clearance for his staff - then Biden changed the paerwork rules and once past the taliban the US military would not let them through

No. He went to the wrong gate. He was supposed to go to the gate where UK security staff were waiting to let them through. But he went to the US gate in error.

@SweetPetrichor

I’m glad they got out. I value the life of an animal equally to a human, and there aren’t security considerations to make when deciding whether to bring an animal into the UK where as any human coming into the country is a potential risk. Most refugees aren’t, but decisions have to be made. One flight, get some innocent creatures out, I’m all for that. A lot of innocent humans were also helped…but you can never help everyone. It’s sad, but that’s reality.

Wrong - animals are also a potential risk. They can carry and spread infections.

Also (may or may not be applicable to you) the sheer hypocrisy of people claiming to love animals and getting upset over stray dogs/cats. But continuing to eat animals raised in inhumane conditions. Feeding their beloved pets with bits of said inhumanely raised animals.

Unless you’re (the general you not you in particular) a vegetarian or eat only ethically raised animals you do not value human and animal lives equally. You can say so all you like but your actions don’t bear it out.

Shame on MNHQ letting these threads continually spring up. There has been plenty of opportunity for people to state their opinions and the fact that people may disagree isn’t the issue.

Now, it’s just thread after thread after thread of insults. How unedifying. How disappointing they keep allowing it.

@Sillysuzie

I'm fully aware the animals don't take seats. I'm not an idiot. But they don't just trot on into the hold themselves. Someone has to put them there. And that someone was the military, who could have been loading refugees on to planes instead

And I'm sure they would have done.

Had the government made a plane available.

Backstreetsbackalrightdadada
He didn’t get the job done, the staff were left behind. But he rescued some cute dogs so that’s ok

@ChardonnaysPetDragon

Was it wrong, was it right?

Maybe it was, maybe it was't. But it was to him and he was there, doing everything humanly possible for his cause.

Maybe if the armchair warriors of MN had been there and done the same for their chosen cause, then things would have been different? But they weren't, they didn't fight for their cause in Kabul, they do it from their armchair of from their kitchen table.

This! So many know-alls frothing at the mouth while doing absolutely FA about anything, now pr ever! Easy to pontificate from the security of your armchair isn't it??

@Unsure33

actually he did get clearance for his staff - then Biden changed the paerwork rules and once past the taliban the US military would not let them through

He got clearance early enough that they could have left immediately. He chose not to leave without the animals in tow. With the ever changing situation on the ground whom in their right mind would choose to delay? Plenty could have happened (Taliban destroying airport, Talbjan preventing people), not just the paperwork change.

He gambled on their lives and lost. That’s the truth. Other people are culpable but he bears some of the blame.

From the Guardian article

As Tom Tugendhat, the Tory MP and ex-serviceman who has been struggling to get his old army interpreter into the UK, put it: “We’ve just used a lot of troops to get in 200 dogs; meanwhile my interpreter’s family is likely to be killed. When one interpreter asked me a few days ago, ‘Why is my five-year-old worth less than a dog?’ I didn’t have an answer.”

For veterans struggling to come to terms with a defeat that reopens deep mental wounds, it hurts to feel that some of the public will lobby harder for cats and dogs than for the people they served alongside.

It's hard to argue with any of that.

Did he do something to prevent his staff leaving then? Or were they all adults capable of making their own choice when they were offered a flight?

He is their boss and their sponsor FFS. I imagine that they would do whatever he told them to do, out of loyalty and the belief that their future (in the UK) depended on him and his supporters, and doing what he wanted them to do. And what makes you think they could have left without the paperwork he put together for them and his presence to smooth the process (after all, they were not considered to be priority cases, like the translators)? If they had wanted to leave Afghanistan - if women and children had wanted to leave- as a good boss, as a humanitarian and as a military hero, he should have been shoving those people onto a plane for their own safety.

I think it’s brilliant he saved the dogs and other animals and there should be more people in the world like him

IMHO the animals have been being cruelly treated.

Five cats died of shock, also a dog was stabbed by the Taliban while waiting in crates at the airport.
Imagine the stress and fear that all the animals must have gone through.
It would have been much kinder to euthanise them and not even attempt to get them out of the country.

Just looking at some of the vitriol on this thread, I'm happy that a few dogs have been saved. Humans can be utterly, utterly vile, while dogs, well they, are on the whole, just amazing.

@Iheartbaby

I think it’s brilliant he saved the dogs and other animals and there should be more people in the world like him

Yep

The British military had stopped flying by the time he left.

Both his flight, and the last U.K. military flight left on the same day.

Anyone who prioritises animals over children is vile.

If it’s not been mentioned he is on the Jeremy Vine show right now on radio 2.