Dimensions
161 x 236 x 26mm
In September 2008 Dorothy, a female chimp in her late 40's, died of congestive heart failure at Cameroon's Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center. A photo of Dorothy's funeral, in which Dr. Sherri Speede was cradling Dorothy's head while her family of chimpanzees viewed her body a final time, went viral after being published in National Geographic. The image was subsequently covered in hundreds of media outlets on television, in newspapers, and on blogs, deeply touching people around the world while showing once and for all that animals do indeed have feelings.
Dr. Sherri Speede is the Founder/Director of In Defense of Animals-Africa and Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center. Now she gives us Kindred Beings, a touching and scientifically compelling memoir that follows the chimpanzee's life from the time Sheri met her while Dorothy was tethered on a chain at Luna Park Hotel in 1999 until her death nine and a half years later at Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center.
In Kindred Beings, Dr. Speede describes her relationships with Dorothy and other members of her adopted chimpanzee family, and their relationships with one another. She demonstrates that chimpanzees, like humans, are capable of a broad spectrum of emotional behaviors. Dorothy was consistently kind, gentle and forgiving. Along the way, Dr. Speede candidly reveals her own struggles as a stranger within a country and culture that were so different from what she had known.
Today, chimpanzees are endangered wherever they still roam in Africa. Currently, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering a petition to classify captive chimpanzees as endangered, like free-living chimpanzees are. In addition, legislation to increase their protection has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. A positive outcome in either scenario would dramatically improve the treatment of chimpanzees in the United States, especially those involved in scientific research.
Books like Kindred Beings, which bring attention to the complex emotional lives of chimpanzees, can increase concern for their struggle to survive. But while this is a story about chimpanzees, it is also Dr. Speede's story. Major events in her personal life unfold in her story of Africa and run parallel to the development of Sanaga-Yong Center.
Born in a working class neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi, Dr. Speede was aware at an early age that she wanted to work with animals. As Northwest Director of In Defense of Animals, a non-profit organization based in Mill Valley, California, Dr. Speede advocated for companion animals, as well as victims of biomedical research, factory farms and circuses. Today, she provides veterinary care to animals in sanctuaries, including a special group of primates in Cameroon, Africa.
