Thai school girls pose for photographs with pythons during the 2022 Pet Expo Championship in Bangkok on September 8, 2022. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)

Dogs and owners run during of 4k pet run “A Race with a Cause”, organized to raise funds for a shelter for rescued dogs in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, April 30, 202. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

Models walk the runway during Pets Carnival on day 1 of the Jember Fashion Carnival 2025 on August 08, 2025 in Jember, Indonesia. (Photo by Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images)

When Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen moved to Hong Kong, the territory’s shop cats instantly caught his eye. While the “feline emperors” are the stars, his shots also offer insights into Hong Kong’s wares, from dried fish to paper. Here: Hong Kong Shop Cats #17. (Photo by Marcel Heijnen/Blue Lotus)

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

A cat wears a “Tsunagaru Col” gadget next to a smart phone displaying the connected app, at the Anicall Corp booth during the Wearable Device Technology Expo in Tokyo January 14, 2015. The gadget (“Tsunagaru” means connection) for animals tracks information about pets, such as the location and other animals the pet might be interacting with, with the purpose of providing “social networking” for animals. The expo runs until January 16 as a part of Japan's largest electronic exhibition expected to attract around 77,000 visitors, according to organisers. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

Sage Colina holds Rhianna as she is prepared to be adopted from the Humane Society of Greater Miami on December 13, 2023 in Miami, Florida. The shelter is experiencing an overcrowding crisis, like many nationwide, with people releasing their family pets to animal shelters since they can no longer afford to take care of them, after the high cost of pet care and the expense of veterinarian services, among other reasons. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A man carrying butchered dogs drives past a pet dog at a dog meat market in Yulin, Guangxi Autonomous Region, June 21, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)