To get your lawmakers to vote in favor of animals, you must tell them what you think. Below are some important issues on which you can take action. For more tips on contacting your lawmakers, check out our Speak Up for Animals guide. 

Kitty, Midge, and Lulu are three chimpanzees living at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Texas. They are among the lucky chimpanzees living out their lives in a sanctuary. Many other chimps aren't so lucky. There are still about 1,200 chimps living in nine laboratories and research facilities across the country.

These chimps have spent years in labs, enduring painful experiments and testing. Today, scientists are increasingly realizing that testing on chimps isn't a good way to find cures for human diseases. This means most of the 1,200 chimps already in labs are no longer needed. Though now they rarely suffer through testing, they are still stuck in their cages day after day—and they can live to be 60 years old.

You can help these chimps by asking your U.S. representative to support the Great Ape Protection Act. This law would end research on chimps in laboratories. It would also allow many chimpanzees currently living in labs to be retired to sanctuaries.

You can call your representative or write them a letter. (Click here to look up your representative and his or her contact information.) Here's an idea of what you can say:

"My name is [your name] and I live in [your town]. I'd like to ask [your representative's name] to support the Great Ape Protection Act. This law would help chimpanzees currently living in laboratories. It would phase out research on them and allow many chimpanzees to be retired to sanctuaries, where they will have a better life. Thank you."

If you contact your representative, we want to hear about it! Please email us at kids@humanesociety.org with the details of what you did. 

Primates (apes and monkeys) don't make good pets. Keeping a primate as a pet is cruel to the animal. Like all wild animals, apes and monkeys belong in their natural habitats. Keeping them as pets also puts people at risk of attack and disease.

The Captive Primate Safety Act is being considered in Congress. If passed into law, it would help stop the trade in primates as pets. You can help get this important law passed!

Contact your two U.S. senators by calling them or writing them a letter. (Click here to look up your senators and their phone numbers.) Ask them to support the Captive Primate Safety Act. Here's an example of what you can say: 

"My name is [your name] and I live in [your town]. I'm calling to ask [your senator's name] to support the Captive Primate Safety Act, S. 462. Keeping primates as pets is cruel to the animal. It also puts people at risk of attack and disease. Please do all you can to pass this important law. Thank you."

If you contact your senators, we want to hear about it! Please email us at kids@humanesociety.org with the details of what you did. 

Help Stop Cruel Shark Finning!

Each year, 100 million sharks are killed by the fishing industry. Many die accidentally in nets meant for swordfish or tuna. Others are purposely caught for their meat or their fins.

Shark fins are considered especially valuable in Asia, where they are used to make shark fin soup. This traditional dish is often served as a symbol of wealth and status. But many people don't realize the cruelty involved in obtaining shark fins.

Sharks are caught only to have their fins cut off. The sharks are then thrown back overboard, where they either bleed to death or are easily captured by predators. It's estimated that tens of millions of sharks are "finned" each year.

You can help stop this cruelty! If you think sharks shouldn't be caught just for their fins, please ask your lawmakers to support the Shark Conservation Act. If passed, this law would do more to protect sharks from finning.

First, find your representative and their contact information by going to humanesociety.org/leglookup and entering your ZIP code. Then give your representative a call or write him or her a letter. Here's an idea of what you can say in your letter or phone call:

"My name is [your name] and I live in [your town]. I would like to ask [your representative's name] to support the Shark Conservation Act, H.R. 81. This law would require sharks to be landed with their fins naturally attached to their bodies. Demand for shark fin soup has led to living sharks having their fins cut off. The sharks are then thrown back into the ocean to die. The Shark Conservation Act would protect sharks from this cruel practice. Thank you." 

After you contact your representative, we want to hear about it! Please email us at kids@humanesociety.org with the details of what you did. 

Protect Seals!

Canada's yearly seal hunt starts at the end of March. Hundreds of thousands of baby seals will be killed for their fur. It's against the law to kill newborns, but seals as young as 12 days can still be hunted.

You can speak up for seals! Send letters to Prime Minister Harper and to Michael Wilson, Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Here are some points you can make in your letters:

● The baby seal hunt is cruel. Canada's laws against cruelty to seals are frequently broken. Hunters who kill more seals than allowed or break other hunting laws are often not punished.

● Canada's government allows hundreds of thousands of baby seals to be killed each year. But it hasn't proven that the seal population can survive such a large hunt.

● One reason given for killing seals is that seals eat too many cod, not leaving enough for fishermen to catch. Scientists have found, though, that overfishing by people, not by seals, is the real reason cod are disappearing.

● A majority of Canadians, Americans, and Europeans are against the seal hunt. In fact, on July 30, 2007, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution urging the Canadian government to end the  seal hunt.

Send your letters to these addresses:

Prime Minister's Office                                    
Right Honorable Stephen Harper                  
80  Wellington St.                                          
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OA2        

The Honourable Michael Wilson
Office of the Ambassador
Canadian Embassy
501 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20001

Want to do more to help seals? You can raise funds for our campaign to support the effort to stop the seal hunt. For tips on fundraising for animals, click here. You can send the money you raise to:

The HSUS/HSI ProtectSeals Campaign
2100 L St NW
Washington, DC 20037
Attn: ProtectSeals (MBRSCB)

If you write letters or hold a fundraiser, we want to know about it! Email us at kids@humanesociety.org to tell us how you took action for seals.