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

You've left out the......Royal Family. Ooops, sorry, that just slipped out.

I'll gladly add Prince Andrew to the subsidiary shit list to be getting on with, @Plumtree391. Everyone loathes him.

I'm surprised the Illuminati hasn't been mentioned yet, tbh.

My concern is that any one who adopts one of the dogs is going to have to speak, or learn, Pashto or Dari in order to get it just to sit.

Dogs listen to your tone of voice, not just the words and they pay attention to your body language. I wouldn't think interpreters in Pashto and Dari will be needed.

My concern is that any one who adopts one of the dogs is going to have to speak, or learn, Pashto or Dari in order to get it just to sit.

My concern is that our shelters are overloaded with dogs. In March of this year the SSPCA were reporting a 130% rise in calls about unwanted pets. 136,000 calls had been received in 2020 in Scotland alone.

With the rise of puppy farms and abandoned dogs, do we really need a couple of hundred more?

@Eve

Convenient ‘look over there ‘ distraction from the Govt , their pet papers and social media bots.

Whilst everyone is arguing over Dogs & cats no one is asking why this evacuation didn’t start in May when they were warned to & why it’s such an appalling shambles.

brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/the-animals-of-pen-farthings-hood

to quote the article:

As The Times, Telegraph and Daily Mail turn their fire on Farthing, The Observer reports that thousands of emails to the Foreign Office about the evacuation from Afghanistan went unread. That’s the story that should be getting the most attention today but the Tory-supporting press is putting the blame on one annoying bloke rather than a whole government of incompetents and grifters.

Pen Farthing left himself open to being framed as a villain by the papers and hero by his social media fans. While Ben Wallace rages and the right-wing newspapers smear, Dominic Raab will be absolutely delighted that he’s no longer the only one in the dog house.

Absolutely

@Buttons294749

I'm fairly neutral on this as I understand Pen was trying to use the animals as an umbrella to get his staff out which sadly failed. If I were him I would want to save my own staff from the Taliban if I could. Obviously now the Taliban now have pictures of who exactly they are should they wish to capture them, equally the whole execution has been a humanitarian disaster.

What has distressed me most is on Facebook specifically there is a lot of thinly veiled racism/that brown people's lives don't really matter when you compare them to a floofy dog. I see it all the time, but it's just disheartening...

That’s the crux of the matter isn’t it? Pen places the animal lives over his staff by not getting them out as a priority. Why didn’t he let them go first and get the animals put himself (as he ended up doing?) leaders stay behind and take the hit for their staff.

Also all the people on here saying ‘humans are vile, animals better’. These are people fleeing from a war torn country that Western powers had a hand in tearing apart.

But they’re brown so clearly lower on the scale than animals.

Also to add - I’m brown and seeing all the prejudice out in the open is marvellous…

The key to all of this is whether or not processing these animals and allowing the charter plane its slot really did prevent anyone from escaping from Afghanistan.

If it did, then this story appears to show the government doing demonstrably the wrong thing by caving to this man. Why? Because he was abusive on a phone call? Because Ricky gervais was tweeting about it? Pathetic.

That would be truly shocking and I would hold the government and not someone hassling them 100% responsible.

I’m afraid I believe he was evacuated with animals because resource could not be diverted elsewhere so may as well be used. Because the alternative (the government can’t stand up to animal lovers and comedians on Twitter) is terrifying.

They were cleared for a flight but with no guarantee of safe passage through the airport- just take your vulnerable family and try. Who are we to judge their actions?

In the system, they are NGO vets and were never going to get priority over people who served the government.

Yet vulnerable NGO workers do a massive service both in the UK and overseas, filling gaps and in many cases propping up democracies. But the government decide who is more important.

@TheAntiGardener

The key to all of this is whether or not processing these animals and allowing the charter plane its slot really did prevent anyone from escaping from Afghanistan.

If it did, then this story appears to show the government doing demonstrably the wrong thing by caving to this man. Why? Because he was abusive on a phone call? Because Ricky gervais was tweeting about it? Pathetic.

That would be truly shocking and I would hold the government and not someone hassling them 100% responsible.

I’m afraid I believe he was evacuated with animals because resource could not be diverted elsewhere so may as well be used. Because the alternative (the government can’t stand up to animal lovers and comedians on Twitter) is terrifying.

At this point in the discussion for me it’s not even about what resources consumed. It’s that the plight of cats and dogs are more deserving of an outcry, outrage etc on social media rather than that of actual humans.

Yes I’m aware that this is probably being used as a distraction etc etc but he could have sent his staff ahead. He made it absolutely clear that his FIRST and ULTIMATE priority was the animals. It wasn’t his fault that the paperwork fell through but he put his staff second.

And many people agree that it was the right thing.

That’s what I find disgusting. And sad.

[quote GruffaIo]@ Tippexy Same old posters still going on about the “animals went in the hold” when that is not the point.
Conveniently, they ignore:
1) the man hours used to process the animals at the airport when those man hours could have been used to process refugees.
2) the fact that his plane took up one a of a limited number of remaining landing slots. His plane held 300 (although we are not told if it did). A military plane would have held 600.

No. Read the Spectator's own correction to its smearing story. Perhaps the MoD are getting concerned about Pen Farthing bringing a claim for defamation. I would be if I were them. Don't let the Tories distract you from the omnishambles that was their evacuation.

For links to the corrections, see here: twitter.com/DulcieJeffery/status/1432233387390119936/photo/1[/quote]
.

@TheAntiGardener: I’m afraid I believe he was evacuated with animals because resource could not be diverted elsewhere so may as well be used. Because the alternative (the government can’t stand up to animal lovers and comedians on Twitter) is terrifying.

That first bit is closer to the truth. "So how many people can come on this plane with me?" "None." "Why?" "There's not enough people processed to fill the planes we have."

The UK govt didn't process people. Left them outside and shut the airport access to all those left outside. This is the same govt whose housing minister just said, "we're going to help people get on the (property) ladder either as owners or renters". I shit you not.

[quote TractorAndHeadphones]Also to add - I’m brown and seeing all the prejudice out in the open is marvellous…

I donated to the Nowzad appeal to help get the animals and staff out

And does it bother you the money ended up just being used for the animals?

I'd really like to see a source for this - is this true?

Ben Wallace tweeted on the 25th August that Farthing and his staff were cleared to come forward and be evacuated on an RAF flight. If he brought his animals, they would try to find a slot for his plane, but without the animals they could all leave on the RAF planes evacuating.

In his response in an interview with SkyNews, he said he wouldn’t do it. He said he didn’t believe they had been cleared. He also said in that interview “I’m not leaving without my staff” Clearly he didn’t actually mean that.

I've watched this in detail from the very start, before it even started getting any media attention. There is some awful misinformation on here.

Re the Spectator article-- they have now published an addition to say that the MoD have said that no resources were diverted in any way to help Pen, at the expense of the evacuation effort. They have explicily said that even if he had never been there, no one extra wouldve been saved.

Re the swearing call just consider why a man who is trying to save lives in the middle of a terrorist takeover, would swear at someone who he believes is refusing to help him. Pen had been told to go to the airport then refused entry, then threatened, shot at, tear gassed and nearly blown up. Of course he was angry and swearing in fear and desperation. Wouldnt you swear and threaten to save lives you are responsible for?

• He didnt take any spaces from humans
• He didn't take any time or resources at the airport that couldve otherwise saved humans

-He wanted to save an extra 150 refugees on his plane but was told it was not possible. -The Taliban prevented his staff from entering the airport -His staff made him leave with the animals to save them -He and the team are working very hard now to bring out the staff some other way

It is a terrible situation right now. But turn your anger to the right things. Not upon a man who did everything he could to save his people, who cost no one their evacuation, who tried to save 100+ total strangers but was stopped by the MoD, and who is right now working solidly to find a way to get his staff out.

@TractorAndHeadphones: he couldn't send his staff first. They didn't receive their visa confirmations until shortly before they all left fo rthe airport. He knew he couldn't get them through Taleban checkpoints without actual documentary evidence.

Those insisting that charther flight/NOWZAD diverted resources. It didn't. The MOD have already confirmed it didn't. This :

Since this piece was published, an MoD source has been in touch to take issue with it. That source says that any UK resources used to support Farthing and his charter flight were not diverted from operational work getting Afghan personnel out of Kabul – in essence, if UK resource had not been used on Farthing, it would not have made any difference to the number of Afghans the UK could remove from Kabul.

from here:

(scroll down for the correction, which goes on to insist why the author is still correct, even when proven incorrect....
www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-shameful-evacuation-of-pen-farthing-s-pets-from-afghanistan

BoredZelda and you believe Ben Wallace, do you, a key member of a government involved in one of the most monumental fuckups of modern times, who have shown time and again their total lack of regard for anyone not wearing the correct old school tie, a government who will say and do anything to deflect from their utter inadequacy?

Well said GrumpyTerrier

@BoredZelda

I donated to the Nowzad appeal to help get the animals and staff out

And does it bother you the money ended up just being used for the animals?

I'd really like to see a source for this - is this true?

Ben Wallace tweeted on the 25th August that Farthing and his staff were cleared to come forward and be evacuated on an RAF flight. If he brought his animals, they would try to find a slot for his plane, but without the animals they could all leave on the RAF planes evacuating.

In his response in an interview with SkyNews, he said he wouldn’t do it. He said he didn’t believe they had been cleared. He also said in that interview “I’m not leaving without my staff” Clearly he didn’t actually mean that.

He very clearly did mean that. Perhaps you should ask his staff yourself. Go on. Their FB and twitter pages are available. He could have sent them back to the compound when they were refused passage at the first attempt. He didn't. He refused to leave without them. They told him to leave, and take the animals with him.

As noted, you can always go and ask via their pages.

@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

No he couldn’t have. He was not authorised to process refugees for asylum and bring them out of Afghanistan. The operation was not like Dunkirk where random people just sailed to France and picked up bunches of British soldiers off the beach (while leaving the French ones behind to be killed by Nazis).

This is the modern age where passports have to be checked using scanners and computers and there is a list of who is eligible or not for evacuation. This guy wasn’t part of the official evacuation, he had no access to or any means to verify refugees identity, passports or eligibility for evacuation.

So he did what he could do and that was rescue some animals. I don’t understand why people are punishing him for doing something good.

Easy to sit in a safe country knocking someone else for doing their absolute best in a highly volatile and risky situation.

Humans can advocate for themselves. Animals can't.

@BoredZelda

What a pile of complete and utter crap! Again, which of those were untrue?

They flew into Heathrow - SO many military troops there - not!!!!
Before the plane took off, they had to unload then reload the plane when it was discovered there wouldn’t be 130 passengers on board.

The Taliban wouldn't let his staff through.
He went to the wrong place. But this was the second time the staff were about to leave. They were previously cleared for a British Military flight and Farthing refused without the animals.

@BoredZelda clearly need a new hobby - she's bored and spreading incorrect shit.
I say again, support him if you must, but at least do it with the actual facts. All of these come from reports made by either him or his supporters.

@BoredZelda. The staff didn't have clearance for a military flight before Wallace offered that (if they didn't have the animals). They'd been waiting on confirmation and documentary evidence of visas.

Stiil, don't let facts get in the way of a good smear campaign.

The housing minister has not long declared that the UK govt is going to help people get on the (property), whether they rent or buy. I shit you not. "Distract 'em! Quick.... poke that Smear campaign again....."

He had help to load the crates into the hold but it was voluntarily given by soldiers on their breaks, not those on duty. So much misinformation! The animals had all tbeir health certificates already.

If his staff had got through, ie the govt had not stalled and delayed their clearance, he would not have needed any help. The staff spent days drilling how to do it as quickly as possible in the days beforehand.

His staff are his friends and like family, of course he wanted to save them and is devastated that he didn’t. They told him to go and at least save the animals. They also pointed out the staff were less of a target without the haram dogs and an ex-marine present.

The man is a hero. Compassion in all forms should be celebrated. The toxic tory blame game disgusts me.

And I would have said far far worse on a voicemail if I was in absolute fear for the life of my friends, their kids, my animals and myself. He had barely slept for days from worry. So many armchair judges here - let’s see how you would cope in his shoes!

Resources were used which could have been used elsewhere whether soldiers were on breaks or not.