About 300 cats and dogs abandoned during the evacuation from Afghanistan five months ago are now on their way to Vancouver aboard an Il-76 chartered by the charity Kabul Small Animal Rescue (KSAR).
Five months after the end of evacuations from Kabul airport at the end of August, abandoned cats and dogs left Afghanistan on Sunday January 30 for Canada.
Many American and Western diplomats, contractors and other personnel fleeing Kabul in August following the Taliban’s takeover of the Afghan capital left their pets in the care of the charity Kabul Small Animal Rescue (KSAR).
About 50 other dogs used by the US military were also left at Kabul airport, although the Pentagon insisted they had been released from their cages and handed over to KSAR.
This Tuesday, February 1, 158 dogs and 146 cats accompanied by trainers and veterinarians who left Kabul on board an Il-76 from the Russian transport company Aviacon Zitotrans are expected at Vancouver International Airport in Canada, where premises of approximately 1,580 square meters have been specially fitted out.
The Il-76 has left Ankara for a stop in Reykjavik where it will be met by another amazing that has flown over from the UK.
The original plan was to ship the animals to the US, but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put Afghanistan on a list of high-risk countries for imports of dogs. The Canadian destination was chosen.
