On Sunday afternoon, 286 dogs and cats from the Kabul Small Animal Rescue were boarded on a plane for new homes in the United States and Canada. Charlotte Maxwell-Jones and her team have been working for months to help these animals all get to safety.
Slogging through these final preparations of stickers, labels, zip-tie loops on 4 corners of each cat crate, printing airway bills and flight manifests by the dozen, checking and cross-checking our crates and animals–a surreal night that will probably last til dawn for most of our staff. It’s a tingly and terrifying feeling, but I think we’re as ready for the giant alien jellyfish overlords as we’ll ever be.
Kabul Small Animal Rescue FB
The flight will land in Vancouver late on Monday and will be received by the SPCA International-led group of rescues. The plane is an Ilyushan 76-TD, built for flying into the most severe winter weather and no delays or disruptions are expected. There are two crews and three loadmasters to help manage the safe loading of the animals.
In their latest update, SPCA International posted the plane had safely landed in Turkey. Their veterinary team is checking every cat and dog to make sure they are all doing well. While the flight crew fuels up and prepares for the next part of the journey, the SPCA International team will be making sure all animal carriers are cleaned and that all of the furry passengers get food, water, rest, and of course, love.
They will be traveling with about a metric ton of supplies,[2204.623 pounds] and hundreds of people have been planning for every contingency. No one is depending on luck and have instead embraced the 7 Ps: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
In addition, during the last days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, more than 150 animals had been released into the airport terminal while some animals had reportedly been left in crates to die from starvation. Some of the dogs left behind were one-time security dogs who had supported United States interests. Other dogs left homeless and as strays were hit by cars, had been stoned to death or still had been running loose.
Since then, however many of those animals had been captured again with the assistance of the Taliban and are now part of this rescue effort leaving the country.
Charlotte Maxwell-Jones will be remaining in Afghanistan, and the rescue work of Kabul Small Animals will continue:
The Kabul Small Animal Rescue will keep its doors open after our upcoming mammoth evacuation, and will need your continued support to do so. Our mission in Afghanistan is simple: help any animal in need to the best of our ability. This includes pets, stray animals, and working dogs, regardless of owners. Funds will go towards food, medicine, animal transportation, in country staff salaries and benefits (including food and medical aid), facility rentals and upkeep, equipment costs, utilities, and toys. We will stay open for as long as it is safe and we have the means to do so. We will rehome all our rescues outside of the country for the foreseeable future, so the many animals in our care that are too young for this flight or that we haven’t had long enough to put on the flight list will be transported, ideally on commercial flights.
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