Pen Farthing served as a Royal Marine for over 20 years before a tour of duty to Afghanistan changed his life for ever.
Patrolling in the remote Afghan market town of Now Zad, he broke up a dogfight organised by the local police.
As he explains in this Vetpulse.tv LIVE presentation to students at the Royal Veterinary College, London, Pen wasnât to know it at the time that one of the dogs involved in the fight was to adopt him as his new owner and, much to the amusement of the Marines, make him the unofficial dog warden of Now Zad.
With the Marines tour of duty coming to an end, Pen knew there was no way he could leave the dogs to fend for themselves and so a rescue plan was organised.
Two years on and Pen and his wife have formed the âNowzad Dogsâ charity, with the long-term goal of promoting animal welfare to an Afghanistan that is slowly rebuilding itself; and Pen has written a book, One Dog at a Time, detailing the rescue of the Now Zad dogs.
