Lies about the USDA

Mary Cummins continues to lie to the USDA about Amanda Lollar and Bat World Sanctuary despite having a $6 Million Dollar judgement against her for defamation.

In her campaign to destroy Amanda and Bat World, Cummins weaves insidious lies around actual facts in her continual defamation. For example, a USDA permit is needed to exhibit animals to the public during educational programs. Years prior Bat World stopped giving educational programs and therefore, decided against renewing its USDA permit when it came up for renewal in 2012. Always looking for new defamation opportunities, Mary Cummins seized on this and posted all over the internet that Bat World “lost its USDA permit.” Of course Cummins fails to mention that Bat World continues to train USDA wildlife specialists as well as animal control officers, Bat Conservation International professionals, veterinarians and others in the rescue, care and rehabilitation of bats. She also neglects to mention that Bat World Sanctuary maintains all necessary permits and licenses with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Another example is when Mary Cummins posted an altered video of Amanda performing an episiotomy on a bat on YouTube and then asked a “Big Cat Specialist” at the USDA named Laurie Gage to view it.  Cummins had edited the original video and taken out the part that showed Amanda administering a local anesthetic (general anesthesia cannot be used on a bat during delivery.) Cummins  then added captions to the video stating that Amanda failed to use anesthesia and that the mother died. In fact, the mother bat survived and was later released into the wild.  Based on Cummins’ false statements and the edited video, the Big Cat Specialist sent an email stating the bat “experienced pain and suffering” and the mother “could have survived if it had been properly anesthetized.” At trial, a veterinarian with 30 years experience who had trained Amanda to do episiotomies on bats viewed the original unedited video at trial and testified that Amanda had performed a “textbook episiotomy; it was as good as it can get.” Another wildlife veterinarian with over 30 years’ experience testified that, rather than allow any veterinarian in her area to treat a bat that needed medical attention,  she would rather drive that bat from her clinic in South Dakota to Bat World in Texas so it could be treated by Amanda. (deposition video below at 20:30)

When Dr. Robert Gibbens, Regional Director of the USDA and Gage’s boss, learned that one of his employees had written an email based on Mary Cummins’ lies, he issued the following statement: “Our Agency looked into (Cummins’) complaint against Bat World Sanctuary; the Agency did not find any evidence of Animal Welfare Act violations and considers the matter closed.” He further stated that Gage’s job title “is Big Cat and Marine Mammal specialist; she does not work with bats.” Mary Cummins of “Animal Advocates” continues to spend an enormous amount of time spreading Gage’s misinformed statements and the doctored video all over the internet.

Mary Cummins’ editing stunt and false captions resulted in her being found guilty of “malicious” defamation by a Texas court and being ordered to pay Amanda Lollar $6 million in damages.

UPDATE FROM RECENT FOIA: LAURIE GAGE RECANTS ORIGINAL STATEMENTS, CLICK TO READ

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Partial deposition video of Dr. Messner, DVM.