Pen Farthing

Paul Farthing
Nickname(s) Pen
Service/branch Royal Marines
Rank Sergeant
Unit 42 Commando
Awards CNN Hero of the Year 2014
Other work Nowzad Dogs charity

Paul "Pen" Farthing is a former Royal Marines commando and founder of the Nowzad Dogs charity.

Military service

During his deployment to Afghanistan in 2006 as part of the Royal Marines in 42 Commando,[1] Farthing and his troops broke up a fight between two dogs in the town of Nawzad. Following this, one of the dogs followed Farthing and they ended up spending the following six months together, with the dog named Nowzad after the town. After the end of his deployment, Farthing sought to bring the dog home to the UK. This inspired him to create the nonprofit company Nowzad Dogs, a service which seeks to reunite servicemen with the dogs and cats who befriended them following the soldier's return home.[2] The company also aids animal welfare in Afghanistan,[2] and built the first animal rescue centre in the country.[1]

Animal rescue

In addition to reuniting ex-servicemen with dogs and cats they knew from Afghanistan, Farthing through Nowzad has rescued animals to be adopted by members of the public once they are brought to the UK. Among these was a dog named Wylie, who was adopted by Sarah Singleton. The dog competed at Scruffts 2014, the non-pedigree competition run by The Kennel Club in the UK, where it was named dog of the year.[3] Farthing later wrote a book about Wylie, entitled Wylie: The Brave Street Dog Who Never Gave Up, which was published in 2014.[4]

Farthing was nominated for the Lifetime Achievement award at the Daily Mirror and RSPCA Animal Hero Awards in 2013.[1] For his work with the Nowzad charity, he was named one of ten "Heroes of 2014" by CNN.[5]

Author

Books

  • One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Helmand - An Inspiring True Story (2009)
  • No Place Like Home: A New Beginning with the Dogs of Afghanistan (2010)
  • Wylie: The Brave Street Dog Who Never Gave Up (2014)[4]

Personal life

In addition to Nowzad, Farthing also adopted a second dog from Afghanistan called Tali. Together they live with Farthing's partner Hannah Surowinski and Iraqi Rescue dog ‘Maxchat’ in Tiverton, Devon.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Sharp, Marie (26 September 2013). "Animal Hero Awards 2013: Former Royal Marine nominated after rescuing 500 dogs in Afghanistan". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 Dunn, Meghan (6 December 2014). "Reuniting soldiers with dogs they left behind". CNN. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "Royal Marine Pen Farthing talks about rescuing terribly treated dog Wylie". STV. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  4. 1 2 Warren, Jane (6 September 2014). "Wylie: The extraordinary street dog who survived war and never gave up". Daily Express. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  5. ↑ McLaughlin, Katie (22 May 2015). "CNN Hero of the Year reunites soldiers with stray animals". CNN. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
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