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In 2021, H/3 Foundation played a crucial role in Operation ARK, collaborating with Nowzad to rescue people and animals from Kabul. The mission included the successful evacuation and relocation of veterinary staff and the animals in their care.
In August of that year, the Taliban takeover of Kabul forced the Nowzad team and its founder, former British Royal Marines commando Pen Farthing, to seek immediate evacuation. With H/3's coordination and funding, Nowzad planned the dangerous journey from its clinic to the Kabul airport, through Taliban-controlled territory.
Operation ARK was not without complications, but eventually resulted in Pen and nearly 170 dogs and cats making it safely out of Kabul into the U.K. The Nowzad team – 68 staff members and their family members – was also successfully evacuated to Pakistan, and eventually to the U.K.
Nowzad was founded by Pen, who had previously served as a Royal Marine in the Afghan town of Nowzad, in 2006. Pen recognized that street dogs and cats required championing, and from this beginning, Nowzad has reunited 1,600 dogs and cats with servicemen and servicewomen across the globe.
