In September 2014 the Scottish Prison Service Dog Handlers and their working dogs walked a fantastic 180 miles between them around HMP Glenochil! The SPS Pound for a Hound charity walk was organised with the aim of helping to raise the funds needed to reunite a soldier with their companion animal rescue.

We would like to say a huge THANK YOU from all of us here at the charity to Jackie and all the SPS Dog Handlers for raising an incredible £4,812.00 for Nowzad and for organising the walk in aid of the charity!

Dear Nowzad Supporter;

Finally we can send out the Nowzad Dogs newsletter 2014. For all of us involved it has been a very busy year which has seen us expand our Afghan staff to cater for the growing demand for fully trained vets to deliver animal welfare on the streets of a country slowly turning the corner after holding a very long winded but successful Presidential election. Our staff have worked hard to treat every animal brought to the Nowzad clinic including companion animals like poor Whitey. We are immensely proud of what they have achieved in promoting animal welfare in Afghanistan.

One of our rescued dogs ‘Wylie’ won Scruffts earlier in the year, the world’s premier crossbreed competition and we are really chuffed to tell you he now has his own book for sale (signed copies) direct from our Nowzad store! Please note all orders placed now outside of the UK may not reach you in time for Christmas.

We do hope you enjoy reading the Nowzad Dogs newsletter which can be found below and remember our online shop is now up and running with new merchandise for Christmas!

Nowzad Newsletter 2014

All the best

The Nowzad Team!

We have some HUGE news that we are so excited to share with you!

A rather shocked pen receives his 2014 CNN Hero award from the one and only Anderson Cooper. Thank you to all of you who tirelessly voted for Pen to win the 2014 CNN Hero award at a star studded event in New York City. We are all so proud and absolutely overwhelmed at the win!

Thank you!

And there is more good news – Subaru (sponsors of the CNN Hero programme) have pledged to match all donations up to a maximum of $5000 to all those who donate via the Amazon donation link until the 31^st December 2014;

https://payments.amazon.com/donate/cnn_heroes_nowzad

Pen says; “To be in the top ten was a huge honour. The other nine Heroes are amazing people and are changing lives for the better. But for me to actually be named as 2014 CNN Hero is just mind blowing – thank you, thank you to everyone who believes in what we are doing for the animals of Afghanistan with no voice but ours. This award allows us to sleep at night knowing that the future of Nowzad and all the animals with no voice but ours in Afghanistan will be secured for just that little bit longer. Thank you so much”.

You can watch CNN’s brilliant video of our work that they produced for Pen’s nomination and their announcement of Pen’s win;

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/18/world/2014-cnn-hero-of-the-year-pen-farthing/index.html

Thank you everybody and please remember to donate via the Amazon link!

A message from Founder Pen Farthing; ‘This story demonstrates why I am so proud of the Nowzad team, especially those in Kabul at the Nowzad clinic, for everything they have achieved. Religion and culture are put to one side as we are united by our determination to make a difference for the welfare of animals.

And of course, I cannot forget our amazing supporters whose donations have made it all possible for us to be there for the dogs you will read about below. Thank you’.

Remember that under the marvellous CNN donation programme Subaru will match YOUR donation via this link to help us help the animals with no voice but ours in Afghanistan;

https://payments.amazon.com/donate/cnn_heroes_nowzad

Over the years the Nowzad shelter and clinic has been in operation we have seen our fair share of dogs and cats that have ended up with permanent disabilities.

Our first case of this was actually a cat called Roadrunner, he had been hit by a car and when his owner brought him sadly there was little we could do to save his leg, however Roadrunner made a fast recovery and was soon every bit as fast as a cat with 4 legs.

Then we found two dogs, who for reasons unknown, only had three legs. Peggy, who now lives in Scotland and LJ. We sadly lost LJ on the operating table trying to finish the surgery on the already partially amputated leg that someone else had done incorrectly.

And then there is Raj the German Shepard who is now a resident of the USA and Penny dog the stray who was found with a very old break in her back leg which we will probably leave as she gets along just fine at the moment. And we could not forget Troy who again had a very old break in his back leg but being very active and happy we have decided to leave be.

Each year we see more and more animals with injuries that cannot be fixed with any treatment other than amputation, this year has been no exception and in a very short space of time we received several of them together.

First came Whitey, she had been run over by an armoured vehicle and both legs were broken.  We tried in vain to save both legs but it was not to be and we had to amputate her left rear leg and hope we could save the right rear leg for her to have a good quality of life. Many weeks’ of regular daily dressing changes followed, we were unable to pin or plate the leg as it was too badly damaged so we placed the leg in a cast in a stable position.

The leg did heal fairly well and although it will never look normal she is in fact able to use the leg pretty well to get around but as luck would have it the fabulous Jim from dogswheels.co.uk stepped up. Her personally made wheel chaired arrived thanks to Jim and Whitey now has spends hours in her chair tearing round the clinic.

Next came Monty who had a broken pelvis, he was found in the street by an Afghan man who called us out in the middle of the night to help him.  Monty recovered enough to be able to walk reasonably well but when he is tired he has a tendency to drag himself.  He was left with permanent nerve damage in his lower back/pelvic region which means he will never be able to walk normally without help so Jim at dogwheels.co.uk also provided him with a wheelchair for extra support.

Just as we thought we had done with the disabled dogs we were alerted to Mazar, a dog that had spent 3 years on the streets of Mazar e Sharif in Northern Afghanistan with both of his back legs broken.  Thankfully though the poor lad was able to scuttle around as fast as lighting using his front two legs in a sort of half nelson move!

Unbelievably he had found his way to a local vet lab there and the staff had done what they could to help him but with limited resources there was nothing more that they could do.  We arranged for Mazar to be transported to the Nowzad clinic in Kabul where Dr Mohammad from Mayhew International managed the incredibly complicated surgery that was needed to remove both legs.  Normally we would have considered euthanising a dog like Mazar who had lost the use of both back legs because of the very limited resources we have, but as Mazar he had survived 3 years on the streets we really wanted to do our best and make a good life for him.

The surgery to remove both of his back legs was a complete success and within a few days he was back to normal and getting himself around by lifting his body up onto his front legs and scuttling along.  Once again Jim at dogswheels stepped up and made him a wheelchair which he uses for several hours a day.

At around the same time Mazar came in we also got Anita.  Again she had been found lying paralyzed at the side of the road by an Afghan man.  He could she needed help and despite the fact she was in a lot of pain and was aggressive he picked her up and brought her into the clinic.  We immediately got to work finding out what was wrong and despite her wanting to eat us all in the initial few weeks she eventually started to trust us and slowly started to regain the use of her legs.  As time has progressed she has become somewhat of a character, she is wary of new people but adores the clinic staff and she is able to get around incredibly well.  She still has some weakness in her hind quarters but each day she gets more and more steady and she runs and plays with Whitey, Monty and Mazar albeit she sometimes falls over!

Whitey, Monty, Mazar and Anita keep the entire staff on their toes, they love playing and they adore people coming into the clinic to see them and will very quickly make it known that they are special and therefore all that meet them must love them!  They have all overcome massive injuries that at one time would have resulted in them being euthanised but with time, effort and love they all now have the chance to live full and happy lives.

Order now your signed hardback copy of Pen Farthing’s new book ‘Wylie’ the brave street dog who never gave up! Ordering direct from the charity online store will ensure the charity receives a greater percentage of the sale towards our work in Afghanistan.

£14.99 + P&P for the signed hardback version of ‘Wylie’. (Paperback not available until June 2015).

Order from the Nowzad Online Store →

For a dog born into the harsh reality of life on the streets of Afghanistan to one day being crowned top crossbreed dog during the Kennel Club’s Crufts, the largest dog show on earth, is nothing short of a miracle. But for Wylie, the gentle cropped eared ball of fur, miracles seemed to happen quite regularly.

Beaten and abused, Wylie suffered terrible injuries that needed urgent treatment. Rescued close to death, with hacked off ears and a severed tail he was attended to by soldiers who feared he would not last the night. Astonishingly he did, only to return days later with new injuries.

But a lifeline came when he was rescued by animal welfare charity Nowzad Dogs and flown to Britain in preparation for a new life in Australia with the soldier that had first taken care of his injuries.

But failing the strict Australian import regulation tests left Wylie stranded in the UK and the charity asking the question; ‘who would take a chance with an undomesticated stray?’ Luckily for Wylie his biggest adventure yet was about to be begin…

This is the incredible and heart-warming story of a dog who never gave up on people.

With immediate effect we are no longer able to accept any donations of ‘out of date’ medical supplies of any nature. The cost of transporting and correctly assessing each item sent to us has now outweighed the benefit of the donation.

As the security situation in Kabul improves so does the availability of ‘in date’ medical supplies and so finding the funding to purchase in-country supplies is now our priority.

We would like to thank all those who have donated to us in the past, your time and generosity is extremely appreciated by all of us here at Nowzad Dogs. Thank you.

Founded in 1998, Animal Friends is an ethical pet insurance company that was established with the sole aim of providing insurance as a means to help support animal welfare charities. The company’s ethos, aims and values have enabled them to become one of the largest pet insurance providers in the UK (Datamonitor 2013).

What’s more, they have currently donated over £1.7 million to animal welfare charities all over the world, and this includes us! Nowzad have been fortunate to have a significant amount of funds donated by Animal Friends over the years. We have been privileged enough to receive funds from Animal Friends via their Employee of the Month scheme, Facebook charity competition and goodwill donations. In total Animal Friends has donated a fantastic £10,500 to Nowzad!

We are proud affiliates of Animal Friends, so by insuring your pet or equine with them via this link, Nowzad will receive commission! If you aren’t looking for insurance why not ‘like’ their Facebook page; they donate £1 to animal welfare charities for every ‘like’!