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Dr. Sheri Speede
Dr. Sheri Speede is an American veterinarian, animal welfare and conservation activist and great ape advocate. She is the founder and director of In Defense of Animals-Africa (IDA-Africa) and the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center (SYCRC) in Cameroon.

Early Years
Born in a working class neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi, Sheri Speede was aware at an early age that she wanted to work with animals. She qualified as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Louisiana State University and began practicing in 1985.

Work
Moving to the Portland, Oregon area in 1988, Dr. Speede soon became a partner in Pacific Veterinary Hospital, a successful southwest Portland practice. She served as president of the Portland Veterinary Medical Association and co-founded the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon, a non-profit organization dedicated to humanely reducing the population of feral cats through spaying and neutering. She sold her interest in the veterinary practice in 1995 so she could commit her time to animal activism.

From 1995 to 1998, as Northwest Director of the non-profit organization In Defense of Animals, Dr. Speede advocated for companion animals, as well as victims of biomedical research, factory farms and circuses. In addition, she was able to provide veterinary care to animals in sanctuaries, including primates in Cameroon, Africa. Her two trips to Cameroon in 1997 soon changed the course of her life.

Africa
For 13 years, from 1998 to 2011, Dr. Speede lived in Cameroon full-time. With a mission to ensure that endangered chimpanzees and gorillas survive in their natural habitats, she founded In Defense of Animals-Africa (IDA-Africa) and Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center to work in collaboration with the government of Cameroon. At Sanaga-Yong Rescue Center, located in Cameroon's Mbargue Forest, Dr. Speede and her staff provide sanctuary for chimpanzees orphaned by the illegal ape meat trade. Dr. Speede now splits her time between Cameroon and the United States, leading efforts to secure the future of chimpanzees at the sanctuary, as well as those living free in Cameroon's forests.

Book
2013 	Kindred Beings: What Seventy-Three Chimpanzees Taught Me About Life, Love, and Connection New York: Harper Collins.

Essay
2013	 What Chimpanzee Teach Us About Love HYPERLINK "http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/10/22/what-chimpanzees-teach-us-about-love/" http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/10/22/what-chimpanzees-teach-us-about-love/