(WVLT/Gray News) - A Tennessee woman refused multiple opportunities to escape Afghanistan in an effort to save military contract dogs left behind during the American withdrawal from the country.
Clinton native Charlotte Maxwell-Jones is the director and founder of Kabul Small Animal Rescue in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she has lived for 11 years.
She told WVLT that she is staying behind until about 130 dogs, about 50 of which are military contract dogs, are safely evacuated.
“They’re my responsibility, and I love them and I care for them. I think there’s less chance of recovering them if I’m not here,” said Maxwell-Jones.
Maxwell-Jones said the contract dogs are trained to sniff bombs and perform crucial tasks to help neutralize threats for U.S. troops while overseas. She said that contract dogs aren’t given the same priority as military dogs.
Officials with the Military Working Dog Team Support Association said that they are confident that all military working dogs were evacuated.
Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is not allowing dogs into the U.S. from Afghanistan, but Maxwell-Jones is trying to get an exemption. If an exemption isn’t granted, the Clinton native said those animals would go to Canada for six months to quarantine.
Maxwell-Jones wants people to know that she is OK, even though she was at the Kabul airport the day explosions killed 13 U.S. service members. She described that scene as a loud nightmare.
The director said she has had dozens of opportunities to leave Afghanistan since the withdrawal began.
She said she received a visit from the Taliban on Aug. 23 when 12 armed men warned her to leave immediately.
Even though her parents want Maxwell-Jones to come home, she said she plans on sticking it out in Afghanistan until the animals under her care can leave safely.
Under Taliban rule, Maxwell-Jones said she has a curfew and has to walk around with a male escort if she wants to leave home.
It’s not just the roughly 50 military contract dogs she’s trying to evacuate. Maxwell-Jones said her rescue is also working to get another 80 dogs, 75 cats, two sheep and two parrots out of the country.
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