67 people. 171 animals. Getting out was only half the battle. August 2021. The Taliban invaded Kabul. The British Government was ‘missing in action’. The evacuation was disastrous, shambolic and deadly. Pen Farthing refused to abandon his charity’s staff or rescue animals. Operation Ark was born. He was branded a villain who valued ‘pets over people’, blamed for deserting Afghans, accused of risking British soldiers – nothing could be further from the truth.