May 11, 2011

Internet harassment is on the rise and, unfortunately, Bat World Sanctuary and our Founder and President, Amanda Lollar, have been recent victims. We have been harassed and defamed by an individual who has attacked one of our strongest commitments – the one thing we fight the hardest for – the humane treatment of bats.

We have an upstanding reputation. To counter her deleterious allegations, we welcomed inspections by the City of Mineral Wells, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the USDA, and the Texas State Department of Health. Every official who investigated our facility found her allegations to be completely without merit:

“ I have visited Bat World Sanctuary multiple times over the past three years. The facility has always been clean and well organized. I have never encountered a strong ammonia smell which is very common in many bat enclosures. The resident bats have always appeared healthy. The rehab bats and babies are housed in a separate quarantine area and this area has always been clean and the bats appeared to be receiving more than adequate care. I spoke with the local Texas Parks and Wildlife Law Enforcement Agent in the area. He concurred with my assessment. The place is clean and well organized and the bats look happy and healthy. There is absolutely no evidence confirming any of the accusations made by the complainant. On the contrary, Ms. Lollar appears to be providing exceptional care as required under the Animal Welfare Act.“ Click here to review complete results of the investigations. 

The false claims made by this individual placed every bat in our care in jeopardy, including over 200 rescued orphans, bats who have lived peacefully with us for almost 20 years, and over 50,000 bats at our wild sanctuary. Had it not been for our well-established reputation with government officials, every bat in our care could have been destroyed by inhumane decapitation due to her outlandish claims.

Ironically, this individual alleges to be an advocate for animals.

Rather than battle our assailant quietly, we chose to meet this assault head-on. We’ve been able to do so because we have the support of one the best animal rights attorneys in the country, Randy Turner. Throughout this ordeal we have also maintained the support of numerous animal welfare groups around the world. As one spokesperson put it, “This could have been any of us.”

While this malicious attack has severely affected our donations, we have persevered, continuing to provide the highest level of care for the bats in our charge. We have not wavered in our mission – not at all, and we remain strong.

Our fortitude is strengthened when we look into the eyes of the bats whose lives we have saved. The grateful eyes of a starving orphaned bat pup who finally has a full stomach; the relieved eyes of a suffering bat who is no longer in pain; and the joyful eyes of an abused captive bat who has led a miserable life before coming to us – that is where our strength lies, and that is why we will prevail.

Harassment and bullying over the internet is a growing concern and we are not alone in being victimized in this manner. For those of you who may be experiencing something similar, please allow us to serve as an example that you CAN rise above it if you remain strong, and above all remember that truth is proof.

Thank you for your support.
Bat World Sanctuary