The clients we're fighting for

Torn from her natural habitat and herd in Thailand when she was a baby, Happy has been held captive in the Bronx Zoo for almost half a century. Since 2006, she has been held alone. Her case has made legal history for elephants and other animals.

Tommy is a chimpanzee who was living alone in a cage in a shed on a used trailer lot along Route 30 in Gloversville, New York when we filed suit on his behalf. He is our first client, and our fight to free him to a sanctuary continues.

Denied freedom and family, these three wild-born elephants are held captive in California's Fresno Chaffee Zoo, which plans to use them for breeding. Nolwazi and Amahle are mother and daughter. Mabu is one of the most exploited elephants in the US zoo system.

When Hercules and Leo became our clients, they were being used for research in a university lab. They're the first nonhuman animals in the world to have habeas hearings, which required their captors to come to court to try to justify their imprisonment. They now live in a sanctuary.

These three elephants were forced to perform for decades under threat of a bullhook by a Connecticut-based traveling circus that has been cited over 50 times for failing to adhere to the standards set by the Animal Welfare Act. Minnie is now the only surviving elephant.

Kiko was a chimpanzee who was held captive in a storefront in Niagara Falls, New York. He was made to wear a chain and padlock around his neck like a leash. He experienced little freedom in life but his case will help ensure the freedom of other chimpanzees.