Charlotte, a US citizen, had spent 4 days inside Kabul airport waiting for an evacuation flight to take her, her staff and her 130 rescue dogs out of Afghanistan. Neither she nor any of her staff were allowed to board military aircraft and the numerous aircraft that had been chartered to take them all out were refused permission to land by the US army.
Charlotte was told by the military that they would release the dogs into the airport as it was evacuated thus reducing rescued shelter dogs into homeless strays. She managed to get the military to open the bags of dog food she had brought with her for the dogs but the SPCA has not at this stage been able to assess how many dogs the US military released, nor whether they evacuated the 46 working dogs that had been under KSAR’s care. Video footage of the abandoned airport has since emerged showing several abandoned dogs looking very thin and wondering around aimlessly. So it would appear that the US army has joined the ranks of those low lives who abandon animals without a second thought.
Charlotte was forced to leave the airport with one disabled puppy she was caring for under her arm as the final military evacuation occurred. She refused to abandon the puppy. She was escorted back to her rescue shelter by the Taliban and as far as we know remains there.
A team of NGOs (SPCA International, War Paws, Marley’s Mutts, Animal Wellness Action and Puppy Rescue Mission) had been working tirelessly to rescue KSAR and the animals in its care for the last week exhausting every possible option and resource they had. Despite the massive network of US and foreign agencies, politicians, charter companies and rescuers that advocated for the extraction of Charlotte and her dogs, they were not successful. The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention had recently enacted policy suspending transportation of dogs from Afghanistan into the US and this was another impediment despite the negotiations and pleadings of the rescuers. They applied for an Emergency Exemption but the CDC’s adherence to its import policy has put animals and people at risk.
Governments that don’t recognize the human connection to animals endanger people. If Charlotte and her staff had been allowed to take their animals – with the support of private animal rescue groups that had paid for and organized a charter flight - they would all be safe and so would the animals. Now Charlotte is still in Kabul, desperately working to bring these animals into a safer space.
The SPCA will continue to work with Charlotte using every avenue possible to send funding and logistical support. If you are able to donate any amount no matter how small to the SPCA towards helping Kabul Small Animal Rescue achieve the evacuation of their animals it will be most gratefully received.