One Dog at a Time (30 page)

Acknowledgements

WHEN I DEPLOYED
to Afghanistan, back in September 2006, never for one moment had I any inkling of what was to come. Now, knowing that my life has changed beyond all recognition because I befriended a few starving and battered stray dogs, it is still slightly unbelievable.

That I have also written two books about that experience is even more incredible. I really want to say thank you to Mary Pachnos and Fiona MacIntyre for realising the potential of the Nowzad Dogs story and to Garry for digging out my ‘inner voice’, I’ll get the next bottle of red wine … Of course I must say a big thank you to Charlotte Cole at Ebury for putting everything together in the right order and keeping me on track – if only she knew how really chaotic it was in my house while trying to write this book! I still cannot quite believe that an old fighting dog called Nowzad is able to tell his ‘tail’ to the fantastic dog-loving public.

But it is to the many supporters who share the same passion as I do for our four-legged friends that I OWE THE MOST THANKS. It is why Nowzad Dogs has gone from strength to strength. Your support continues to be amazing and it is truly appreciated.

And I can’t forget Lisa. Without her support and sacrifice none of this would have been possible. For that I will always owe you and Beamerboy.

And to the Fizzdog monster – you will always be missed but at least you are now finally free to chase sheep. Enjoy it before I come and find you.

Pen, 2011

Mission Statement: To relieve the suffering of predominantly stray and abandoned animals in need of care and attention, and to provide and maintain rescue facilities for the care and treatment of such animals, especially the dogs of Afghanistan.

Registered charity (non-profit) in the UK, number 1119185

We know that we cannot bring all the stray dogs (and cats) of Afghanistan back to the UK or to the USA, but we can help support those soldiers who, during their tour of duty, find that they have been adopted by an Afghan stray that otherwise would mostly likely starve or die from disease.

Nowzad Dogs now runs its own animal rescue shelter in northern Afghanistan and our long-term goal is to open a network of shelters across Afghanistan promoting educational programmes for children, developing free neutering programmes for stray dogs and cats brought into the rescues, and furthering the welfare and local re-homing of rescued animals.

We have started small but with your help we can only achieve more. We are working towards a humane trap-neuter-release programme to reduce the epidemic stray dog population problem which, in turn, will reduce the incidents of canine rabies.

Every little we do makes a difference, because we are not just walking away – and we hope you won’t too. If you
enjoyed
this book, please recommend it to friends, family and other dog lovers. It is our advert to tell the ‘tail’ of the non-profit and the dog called Nowzad that started all of this. If you can advertise us on your website or have another idea to raise our profile, please do get in touch.

Donations are always needed so the charity can continue what Nowzad has started. Our American supporters can make a tax deductible donation to the Nowzad Dogs charity via links from the Nowzad Dogs website. For up-to-date information on the work of the charity please visit:
www.nowzad.com
.

The Nowzad Dogs charity tries not to re-home Afghan stray animals in the West unless they already have ‘forever’ homes and are ‘sponsored’ by the original soldier or their family. Sadly, there are too many unwanted dogs and cats in the UK and North America that need homes themselves – if you are in a position to give a ‘rescued’ four-legged friend a loving home then please visit a local rescue shelter, your future best buddy is probably there waiting for you right now …

Nowzad Dogs – making a difference one dog at a time
.

Find out what happens next to Pen, Nowzad, Tali and the dogs of Afghanistan

‘Inspirational … His compassion and dedication are a fine example to us all’
Daily Mail