How to send an emoji?

How can I post an emoji? If I place it in url instead of +message+ I will get wrong url, because sign "&" makes url invalid and my message won't be send.

 string url = "http://ift.tt/1H71Jex" + user_id + "&message=" + message + "&v=5.31&access_token=...";

♥ - &#9829