Cameroon. In Defense of Animals. Chimpanzees. Dorothy. Animals as Sentient Beings.

Chimpanzees taking part in a daily animal amusement park parade for 25 to 40 years, can you fathom that? Do you think that circus and amusement park animals wake up in the morning and say, " I wanna balance on top of a ball today. ?" The trouble with these institutions of wholesome(?) family entertainment is that they take away the dignity of animals. In Cameroon, one such animal was Dorothy.

PETA reported that the first armed confiscation of primates in Cameroon led to Dorothy's freedom, along with others like her. She was then taken to In Defense of Animals ' refuge in Sanaga-Yong in 2000. Well, Dorothy passed away recently and that means, if you do the simple math, she lived freely for only eight years.

If there is any question relating to animals as sentient beings, take note of the photograph wherein members of Dorothy's community, perhaps relatives, stand in mournful silence as Dorothy's body is displayed to them. They are so human-like that we can immediately recognize the similarity to our own ways of mourning a loved one. I believe that all animals mourn their dead, fear their own death, and yearn to be free and not caged. We just express these feelings in different ways.

( Photo credit to PETA and In Defense of Animals )

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