As George Eustice struggles to kill Geronimo the alpaca, his Cabinet colleague Ben Wallace is facing a different fight with the animal rights lobby. Faced with the calamity of Kabul, the end of Afghanistan and the potential disintegration of the Western alliance, you might have thought the Defence Secretary already has enough on his plate.
But now the former Scots Guard officer has incurred the wrath of over-zealous zoophilists over the Ministry of Defence’s refusal to allow a charted plane to evacuate animals out of the country. The animal lovers in question belong to the Nowzad sanctuary, which rescues donkeys, cats and dogs in Afghanistan. Run by former Royal Marine Paul Farthing – known as ‘Pen’ – the charity has some 69 staff and is trying to organise a rescue mission dubbed ‘Operation Ark’ to evacuate the employees and as many animals as possible.
A fundraising appeal has raised £145,000 to charter a private plane which can take up to 250 passengers and a cargo hold which Farthing hopes will be filled with animals.
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