Vanilla spent her early years in a research lab in New York and even after being rescued in 1995, she was still living in a habitat that did not allow her to go outside. Now, for the first time, Vanilla can finally see the sky and live in a habitat that suits her needs thanks to Save the Chimps.

Animal testing is a cruel and gruesome industry. Nonhuman primates, such as chimpanzees, are highly intelligent animals with complex psychological and physical needs. But current Animal Welfare Act regulations do not impose specific standards for a physical environment that is adequate to ensure the psychological well-being of nonhuman primates used in research.

At the Animal Legal Defense Fund, we call on government agencies to be more transparent in their treatment of animals used in research. We’ve worked to compel the USDA to protect primates in research, challenged the USDA for public records of the inspection process at nonhuman primate research facilities, and filed a lawsuit against the USDA for lack of transparency into the inspection process of primate research facilities.