NICARAGUA-PETS-SAINT LAZARUS

A dog fancy dressed as a "General" stands during the Saint Lazarus celebration on March 9, 2008, inside a church at the indigenous neighborhood of Monimbo, in Masaya, some 28 kms south of Managua. During the Saint Lazarus celebration, one of Nicaragua's traditional festivities within the Holy Week, believers show their thankfulness or ask for gifts for them or their beloved ones. Faithfuls bring their dogs in reference to the biblical passages in which dogs licked Lazarus' wounds. AFP PHOTO/Miguel ALVAREZ