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 Filipino Catholic performing self-flagellation lies on the ground with his bloodied back outside a church on Good Friday, defying a government ban on religious gatherings amid rising coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, in Manila, Philippines, April 2, 2021. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)

Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge plays a stroke of golf during a visit to meet young people supported by the Cheesy Waffles Project, a charity for children, young people and adults with additional needs across County Durham, at the Belmont Community Centre, in Durham, north east England on April 27, 2021. (Photo by Andy Commins/Pool via AFP Photo)

Models prepare backstage ahead of the “Romance Was Born” show during Afterpay Fashion Week Australia Resort 22 Collections at Carriageworks on May 31, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jessica Hromas/The Guardian)

Garbage, including plastic waste, is seen at the beach of Costa del Este, in Panama City, on April 19, 2021. Every two weeks, Marine Biology students descend about five meters in the sea to take care of a coral nursery of the staghorn species (Acropora cervicornis) in Portobelo, Panama, with which they aim to restore reefs damaged by climate change and pollution, as part of the Reef2Reef project. (Photo by Luis Acosta/AFP Photo)

A woman wears a flower crown during a Summer Solstice celebration on June 21, 2021 in Krakow, Poland. The summer solstice represents the longest day of the year, with the most hours of sunlight, and is celebrated by various cultures worldwide. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)

Switzerland's Belinda Bencic celebrates after defeating Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova during their Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games women's singles tennis final match at the Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo on July 31, 2021. (Photo by Yara Nardi/Reuters)

A girl wearing a mask to help curb the spread of the corona virus runs through a fountain in Beijing, China, Thursday, August 26, 2021. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)