Sheri Speede, a doctor of veterinary medicine, collaborated with the Cameroon government to found the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, a forested home for orphans of the illegal ape meat trade. With Edmund Stone, she established In Defense of Animals—Africa (IDA—Africa) as a division of IDA International and as the U.S. base of support for the work in Cameroon.
Sheri Speede's powerful story shows the reader the broad range of personalities seen in chimpanzees, with complex emotional needs, a rich social fabric, and self-awareness. It opens our eyes to the reality that all animals have emotions, and it pleads for an end to animal abuse.--Marilyn Kroplick, M.D., president of IDA-Africa