‘Now people stop to ask their names and even stroke them’: Nigerians embrace dogs as pets

Jackie Idimogu, an anti-animal cruelty campaigner and founder of My Dog and I, poses with her pets in Lekki, just outside Lagos. She says trying to shift Nigerians’ attitudes to dogs is ‘about progress, not rejection’ of tradition. Photograph: Sogo Oladele/The Guardian

Every weekend in Lagos, 36-year-old Izien Aigbodion walks down his street with his three dogs – a poodle and two chow chows. Neighbours and passersby, more used to seeing dogs in cages than walking on leashes beside their owners, stop to stare.

With treats in one pocket and a bottle of water in the other, he pauses to calm his most skittish dog. “People believe that dogs can only follow orders,” he says, as one nudges his leg for attention. But when you live with them, you come to appreciate things like loyalty, emotion, even empathy.”