https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8nkr3yp88o

01.06.2025

Between 10 and 12 dogs a month are being handed over to Dr Mark Afua’s animal shelter in Lagos – Kelechi Anozia / BBC

Preye Maxwell looks distressed as he leaves his beloved dog Hanks at an animal shelter in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub.

Fighting back tears, he says: “I can’t afford to take care of him. I can’t afford to feed him the way he should be fed.”

His two-year old American Eskimo barks as his owner turns his back and walks out of the St Mark’s Animal Rescue Foundation in the Lagos suburb of Ajah.

Dr Mark Afua, a vet and chairman of the rescue centre, takes Hanks and puts him in a big metal cage – one of many in the single-storey building designed for dogs, cats, snakes and other animals.

Hanks wheels around in circles in his cage – and Dr Afua tries to calm the distressed fluffy-haired dog.

Mr Maxwell, an online media strategist, was recently made redundant. His job-hunting means he is never at home and so feels unable to look after Hanks.

“I’m trying to get whatever I have to do to survive. I don’t even have the time now [to look after Hanks] because I’m always out looking for jobs,” he told the BBC.

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