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.

Dr. Anton Lim is interviewed by the media as he holds Kabang, a two-year-old injured mixed breed, upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay city, south of Manila, Philippines, early Saturday June 8, 2013 from San Francisco, Calif. Kabang lost her snout and upper jaw saving two girls' lives in the Philippines was headed back to its owner following treatment at the University of California, Davis veterinary hospital. (Photo by Bullit Marquez/AP Photo)

“Like most Brits, Emmie Stevens is dog mad. But the 25-year-old has taken it to the next level, spending £30,000 on her nine pets. Emmie’s dogs enjoy regular manicures and fur dyes and have their own walk in wardrobe to store their £15,000 clothing collection”. – Daily Record. Photo: Bailey the Staffordshire bull terrier, holding a red rose. (Photo by Helen Yates/Barcroft Media)

A dog surfs at the 6th Annual Surf City surf dog contest in Huntington Beach, California September 28, 2014. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

Rumor, a German shepherd and winner of Best In Show at the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, is fed steak at Sardi's in New York, U.S., February 15, 2017. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

A man uses a snow blower to clear a sidewalk during a winter storm ahead of the Christmas Holiday outside the Union Station, in Chicago on December 22, 2022. More than 2,200 flights were canceled across the United States by Thursday afternoon as a massive winter storm named Elliot upended holiday travel plans with a triple threat of heavy snow, howling winds and bitter cold (Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP Photo)

MSP Ash Regan and Lexie take part in Holyrood Dog of the Year on June 26, 2023 in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the annual contest, jointly organised by the Kennel Club and Dogs Trust, members of the Scottish Parliament compete with their dogs and Dogs Trust rescue dogs for the title of “Holyrood Dog of the Year”. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)