Yulin, a city in southern China, celebrates the summer solstice by throwing a festival that involves the slaughter and consumption of as many as 10,000 dogs. Not everyone in China supports such practices, however; 65-year-old Yang Xiaoyun, a retired teacher who runs an animal shelter in Tianjin, traveled more than 2,400 km (1,500 miles) and spent more than 7,000 yuan ($1,100 or €990) to save 100 dogs from certain death.

A devotee offers oil lamps on top of his body as part of a ritual during Dashain, the biggest religious festival for Hindus in Bhaktapur, Nepal, October 22, 2015. Hindus in Nepal celebrate victory over evil during the festival by flying kites, feasting, playing swings, sacrificing animals and worshipping the Goddess Durga as well as other gods and goddess as part of celebrations held throughout the country. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A humane society have drafted in Star Wars characters to help find adoptable animals new homes. The Ottawa Humane Society in Ontario, Canada, used the recognisable cosplay figures to adorably interact with the likes of dogs, cats and guinea pigs. Photographed by Rohit Saxena, the series featured a stormtrooper, a Tusken Raider and Garindan. Those photographed were members of the 501st Capital City Garrison, a Star Wars costuming group in Eastern Ontario. Here: a Tusken Raider with a cat. (Photo by Rohit Saxena/Caters News)

Zurab Gurielidze, a director of the Tbilisi Zoo, speaks to the media while standing next to a hippopotamus named Begi at the zoo in Tbilisi, Georgia, September 13, 2015. Tbilisi zoo, which was partly destroyed and some 300 animals escaped or died in the floods that also killed at least 19 people in June, was reopened on Sunday. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

English actress Sophie Turner, from left, American actress Chloe Grace Moretz and Thai-Norwegian actress and model Urassaya Sperbund attend the Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2023-2024 ready-to-wear collection presented Monday, March 6, 2023 in Paris. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP Photo)

A Pakistani Hindu bride attends a mass marriage ceremony in Karachi, Pakistan, 07 January 2024. The Pakistan Hindu Council organized the mass wedding ceremony for 122 Hindu couples belonging to poorer classes. (Photo by Shahzaib Akber/EPA/EFE)

Belgium's Jules Hesters (L) falls as he competes in the Men's Elimination race during the first day of the UEC European Track Cycling Championships at the Omnisport indoor arena in Apeldoorn, on January 10, 2024. (Photo by John Thys/AFP Photo)

Flocks of seagulls swarm small fishing boats in the first decade of January 2024 like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. Colonies of Heuglin’s gulls can be seen almost every morning on the Yamuna River in Delhi, India. (Photo by Raghav Rai Ralhan/Solent News)