Football players carry dogs from shelter onto the pitch in bid to rehouse them

Zenit St Petersburg’s players walked onto the pitch with dogs in their arms before their match against FC Rostov on Friday (3 December) in an attempt to get them adopted from local shelters in Russia.

The heartwarming gesture was part of the ‘Dogs are better at home’ campaign, which started on 30 November, after Russia celebrated World Pet Day.

Zenit wrote on a Twitter post: “The aim of the project is to highlight to the public the responsibility and care required when having a pet and to help raise funds for local dog shelters.”