A TIVERTON man who founded an internationally acclaim-ed charity that reunites soldiers at home with stray dogs and cats they took in during combat, has been named CNN Hero of the Year for 2014.

Pen Farthing, who founded the charity Nowzad Dogs, was announced the winner at an awards ceremony in New York on Tuesday night.

Pen was also awarded a vital funding boost of £62,000 ($100,000USD).

The CNN Heroes Awards recognises everyday people who make extraordinary efforts to change the world.

Accepting the award, Pen said: “Wow, I am absolutely at a loss for words, this is absolutely amazing.

“I would really like to thank everybody who voted for the Nowzad charity and what we do in Afghanistan and believing in us.

“And I would also like to thank all the other heroes in this room for doing what they do to make this world an absolute better place.

“Thank you guys for doing what you do. Thank you.”

The roots of the charity go back to 2006, when Royal Marine sergeant Farthing was followed back to base by a dog in the war-torn Afghan town of Nowzad.

Farthing befriended the dog and named it Nowzad – and as a result of his struggle to bring the dog home to England the following year, founded the charity to help other soldiers “whose lives had been turned around by the animals they befriended in war-torn towns.”