A former U.K. Royal Marine who waged a high-profile campaign to leave Afghanistan with almost 200 rescued dogs and cats has flown to safety — with the animals, but without his charity’s Afghan staff, who were left behind in Kabul.

A privately funded chartered plane carrying Paul “Pen” Farthing and his animals took off from Kabul late Saturday after a saga that gripped and divided Britain, raising difficult questions about the relative value placed on human and animal lives…

“What would you say if I sent an ambulance to save my dog rather than to save your mother?” said Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, who served with the British Army in Afghanistan.

“We’ve just used a lot of troops to bring in 200 dogs. Meanwhile my interpreter’s family is likely to be killed,” Tugendhat told radio station LBC on Saturday.