Born Free USA, a global leader in animal welfare and wildlife conservation, announces the release of From Harm to Healing: Sanctuary Stories of Rescue, Resilience, and Recovery, a new photo book by wildlife photographer Ruth Montiel Arias, with words by Born Free USA’s Director of Animal Welfare and Advocacy, Dr. Liz Tyson.
With more than 80 photographs, the book explores the lives of eight monkeys rescued from exploitative and abusive situations and rehomed to the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary. The South Texas sanctuary, which is one of the largest in the United States, is situated on 175 acres and serves as a permanent home to primates, including those liberated from the pet trade, roadside zoos, and animal experimentation.
“Our team works extremely hard to rescue these beautiful creatures from harmful situations,” Tyson said. “Private owners don’t understand the negative repercussions of forcing a wild animal to live in a human home or the enormous suffering that it causes. Rescue and providing a haven doesn’t erase those scars or remove that trauma. Rehabilitation takes time and effort, and that’s the story we wanted to share in this book.”
From Harm to Healing: Sanctuary Stories of Rescue, Resilience, and Recovery not only shares the stories of long-awaited rescues but also the challenges that come from adapting to life in a sanctuary. With photographs by Montiel Arias, and insight from Tyson, who has 20 years of experience working in animal protection, and other sanctuary caregivers, the book offers an in-depth look at the complexities of rehabilitation.
“In the book, you will meet Darwin, an olive baboon with a love for life and his caregivers. Khy the Japanese macaque, who was surrendered to us after he bit his former owner and went on to spend more than a decade at our sanctuary. Freeman the long-tailed macaque, who was kept in some of the most horrific conditions we have ever seen but now lives full-time with best friend, Sissy. Our work has provided a home for more than 1,000 monkeys over the years. We can only introduce our readers to a small number, but each one has their own story. The monkeys are beloved to all who know them and we hope our readers will love them, too.”
From Harm to Healing: Sanctuary Stories of Rescue, Resilience, and Recovery is published by Lantern Publishing & Media and is available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or directly from Lantern Publishing.
To learn more about the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary and the monkeys who live there, please visit https://www.bornfreeusa.org/primate-sanctuary/.
About Born Free USA
Born Free USA works to ensure that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect and are able to live their lives according to their needs. We oppose the exploitation of wild animals in captivity and campaign to keep them where they belong—in the wild. Born Free USA’s Primate Sanctuary is the largest in the United States and provides a permanent home to primates rehomed from laboratories or rescued from zoos and private ownership.
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