Hey guys, It's Meredith. 

I just wanted to update everyone on our work to help with Animal Welfare Advocates in and from Afghanistan including the KSAR staff. As you all know, Paws Unite People has taken on the sole responsibility for the staff members who have been evacuated, and those still in Afghanistan that are not allowed to work or go to school under Taliban law. 

We are currently providing assistance to all the KSAR staff members and their families who need it and some other Animals Rescuers from other groups in Afghanistan that aren't from KSAR, but were also supposed to make it in to the airport prior to the end of the withdrawal. There are a total of one hundred sixty-eight people in our group.

We are pleased to report that we have been able to evacuate some female staff from Ksar, some female Veterinarians from other groups and some family members that needed to evacuate ASAP to another country. 

We are continuing to work to evacuate the remainder that want to leave and are continuing to liaison with the US State Department and attorneys to document the people who still need to leave that lost their paperwork during the suicide bombing at HKIA in August so they can exit the country. This has been a huge undertaking for our tiny rescue, but these people are worth the effort. 

We want to stress that some staff left their homes when they thought they were evacuating in August and could not go back to them because it was too dangerous or new people had moved in. We have been helping them with temporary housing payment assistance. We have also sent funds for food and supplies.

For obvious security reasons, we have been quiet throughout this process and cannot disclose much information.

We have almost exhausted the funds secured for their support. We did receive the funds from Puppy Rescue Mission that they raised, and it was a godsend; but that is all we got from any public fundraising. We raised the rest privately. We are looking for additional funding to continue to assist them and are hoping to help reestablish this brave team to once again help animals in the United States with Dr Tahera at the helm. She is currently with us here in NY, and helping us with our work here at Paws Unite People. 

Unfortunately there is a backup with US immigration and refugee processing, so it is taking longer to get them to a US military base for processing. We are solely responsible for their support until a space opens up. In parallel, there are other animal rescue groups handling the KSAR animal side of things in Afghanistan. As you know KSAR is continuing to work on moving animals. (We split up in to teams in August.)

A number of male members of the staff are still working. It is important to note that it's been four months since regime change happened in Afghanistan and organizations still operating in the country are now shifting strategies to working with the Taliban government. They are adapting to the emerging political and economic situation as the country continues to evolve. Please remember female staff members are not able to work and need help.

We are committed to continue to work on the welfare of the 161 staffers and families who should have left the country at the end of August through our PUP families program. We will not abandon them. They are our friends and rescue colleagues.

This fundraiser covers travel costs to 3rd country and to USA that are not covered.