Veterans organization works nonstop to help evacuate Afghan interpreters
Tarjoman.org assists interpreters, families navigating around the Taliban
Americans and Afghan allies weren’t the only ones apparently left behind in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
A non-profit organization said it was continuing to work Tuesday to help evacuate dozens of contracted military working dogs from the country, according to reports.
Joshua Hosler, president of Veteran Sheepdogs of America, said the organization was given 51 working dogs with the responsibility of getting them out of Kabul. The non-profit tweeted a photo last weekend of more than a dozen dog crates in front of a helicopter, which Hosler said was just a fraction of the canines left behind in the U.S. troop withdrawal, according to TMZ.
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Hosler hoped to rescue the working dogs by raising $1.67 million – the cost for a 737 plane out of Kabul, the outlet reported. Early Tuesday, the non-profit tweeted it had funds for the plane, but an animal rescue organization fell through.
"So we are scrambling to cover their amount of $500,000 of the $1.67 million," Veteran Sheepdogs of America wrote.
Meanwhile, American Humane – an organization committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of animals – said Monday it was standing by to help transport contract K-9 soldiers to U.S. soil and provide for their lifetime medical care.
"It sickens us to sit idly by and watch these brave dogs who valiantly served our country be put to death or worse," said Dr. Robin R. Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane, in a statement. "In order to prevent this tragedy from occurring, these K-9's should be loaded into whatever cargo space remains and flown to safety."
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On Monday, the Pentagon announced that all U.S. troops have departed Afghanistan. The final C-17 carrying service members lifted off from the airport at 3:29 pm U.S. Eastern Time. The removal of U.S. troops met the Aug. 31 deadline the Biden administration agreed to with the Taliban -- officially ending America’s longest war.
Military personnel and military working dogs disembark a RAF C-17 aircraft after landing at RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire, England, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. (SAC Samantha Holden RAF/Ministry of Defence via AP)
"I am devastated by reports that the American government is pulling out of Kabul and leaving behind brave U.S. military contract working dogs to be tortured and killed at the hand of our enemies," Ganzert added. "These brave dogs do the same dangerous, lifesaving work as our military working dogs, and deserved a far better fate than the one to which they have been condemned."
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CENTCOM didn't immediately respond to a late-night request for comment from Fox News.