Vanilla the chimp spent her entire 28 years locked in a cage. First, it was in a medical research lab in New York. Then she was moved to a "wildlife sanctuary" in California, where she was still pent up in a cage. (How they can call themselves a sanctuary while keeping animals in a cage is beyond me.) Then she was really rescued and moved to another sanctuary in Florida.

She was originally afraid to come out of her cage, but was coaxed out by the alpha male. The look on Vanilla's face when she saw wide open sky for the first time is unmistakable. It also shook me to my very soul that this poor girl never knew the world that was waiting for her for all those years. May she live out her years living her best life.

Open thread below...