Bedlam over death of dog after exotic bath at Lekki pet store

A pet dog owner, Stephanie Henshaw, has allegedly demanded the sum of N20 million from Exotic Pet Café after her dog died in her home following a bath at the store.

The dog reportedly died in April of this year, but the crisis that attended the incident is yet to abate.

Henshaw accused the pet store of killing her dog, TY, and has taken the matter to three different police stations.

The owner of Exotic Pet Café in Lekki, Lagos, Damilola Adeoti, in a video statement, alleged that Henshaw and her family had tried everything possible to ruin her business after she refused to accede to their demand for financial settlement.

According to Adeoti, the issue started on April 17, 2025, when Henshaw, who had been a customer for two years, asked for a grooming appointment for her dog that day.

Adeoti said her staff told her it was not possible because it had to be by appointment.

She said the customer then asked for a bath for her dog, and the store agreed to do that.

Adeoti said the dog was bathed and handed over to the owner in good condition. However, the owner allegedly came back to the store furious, claiming the dog had died.

The Exotic Pet Café owner said Henshaw, on that same day, took the deceased dog for cremation.

She said Henshaw and her family assaulted her staff, arrested and detained them afterwards.

Adeoti said the cremation of the dog denied her any opportunity of finding out the cause of death of the dog until today.

Five months later, she said Henshaw was still making trouble over the issue. She said the deceased dog owner had dragged her to Maroko, Panti, and Zone 2, Onikan police stations at different times.

Adeoti said she had apologised to Henshaw several times, not because she admitted wrongdoing, but out of empathy as a fellow pet lover.

She claimed that at Panti, she apologised to them again to rest the issue so she could move on.

Adeoti said Henshaw and her lawyer then wrote a Terms of Settlement demanding 20 million Naira (non-negotiable).

The pet store owner said she refused to sign the document, which also required her to admit to killing the dog.

Adeoti said the family had continued to malign her business online, posting negative reviews and false claims.

She lamented that the reviews hurt her sales and affected her mental health.

Adeoti said she had filed a petition at Alagbon for ass@ult, threat to lives, defamation, and cyberbullying..

She is now calling on human rights activists and other well-meaning Nigerians to save her and her business.

See her videos here.