The stories of a unique bond between a child and their pet are as timeless as they come, but rarely does the pet have wings. Such is the case with photographer Cameron Bloom whose son Noah happened upon a baby magpie in 2013 when the family was out walking near their home in Newport, Australia. After consulting with a veterinarian, the family learned to raise the orphaned bird, who they affectionately named Penguin.

Eight-year-old handicapped Chinese girl Qian Hongyan crawls with two home-made props and part of a basketball at Zhuangxia Village on January 5, 2005 in Luliang County of Qujing City, Yunnan Province, China.

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An exterior view of Rauceby, an abandoned mental asylum in Lincolnshire, UK. These haunting photos show the collapsing remains of a derelict mental asylum. The pictures show the ruined former hospital building and chapel, now covered in dust and graffiti. Few signs remain that reveal the site as a former home of mentally ill adults and children. (Photo by Simon Robson/Caters News)

A girl is seen in a bakery in the old walled town of Harar in eastern Ethiopia, May 19, 2015. Daily life of people in Ethiopia, where elections are held this weekend, is portrayed in the east African nation's churches and mosques, coffee shops and markets, both in the capital Addis Ababa and the walled town of Harar in the east. Ethiopia, home to nearly 100 million people, holds the first poll on Sunday since long-serving leader Meles Zenawi died in 2012. (Photo by Siegfried Modola/Reuters)

A woman swings a child around a fire, where an effigy of the demon Ghantakarna was burnt to symbolize the destruction of evil, during the Ghantakarna festival at the ancient city of Bhaktapur, Nepal August 12, 2015. According to local folklore, the demon is believed to “steal” children and women from their homes and localities. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

In June, Mallory Gaudet picked up a little ginger kitten on the street and took him home. Mallory worried that the baby will not be able to get along with her ​​two other pets – ferrets, and they will hurt him. But it turned out that the new member of the family, named Ned, could get used to this neighborhood very fast. Moreover – these three animals became really best friends. Now kitten and ferrets play, eat and sleep all together. But the most touching thing is when Ned “washes” the ferrets. Interspecific and intergeneric animals’ friendship – is a rare phenomenon. But ginger kitten and two of his fellows break all the stereotypes.

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.