Worldwide, bat numbers have been decimated by disease, poaching, habitat loss, and fear and hatred due to years of persecution and ignorance. Now bats face a new peril- being killed for macabre decorations and horrific taxidermy. If you take a look at the faces of these beautiful creatures, you can see the pain and torture they have suffered before they were dried out or stuffed and mounted for these bizarre decorations. People often defend this practice by saying these bats were found dead naturallY, or "sustainably or ethically" sourced. This is nonsense and it is also a lie, and most of the time it is illegal poaching practices. Do not buy into this lie. These bats are POACHED and killed for this purpose and this purpose only. Thousands of bats die each year for this illegal purpose.

There’s also another problem: the threat of fatal illness. All bat shipments are also referred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which requires an additional import permit for bats. The CDC says it regulates incoming bats because they are potential reservoirs for infectious diseases including rabies and Ebola. It requires that deceased bats are “properly processed” to render them safe, either with high heat, formaldehyde or another approved method.

Viruses such as rabies and Ebola “can’t survive for very long outside of the host, but can survive longer in a dead animal,” Brian Amman, an ecologist with the CDC’s viral special pathogens branch, said in an email. “While the likelihood is low that something like Ebola would be transmitted via an imported bat carcass, even a small chance with a potentially deadly disease is too much.”

Please sign this petition and let Ebay, AMAZON, and USF&W  and these dealers know that we are not okay with this practice and that bats are needed in the environment-so crucially so that in most environments that bats inhabit, they are protected by law. Most of the countries where these disgusting displays of death are coming out of are too poor to afford wildlife and game wardens to protect their caves. I have been a bat specialist and expert for over 25 years and I can count on 2 fingers how many times I have found a bat in the wild that died naturally. When an animal dies it is usually eaten by predators very soon thereafter. So any company online or otherwise that is offering these on a constant regular basis, is obtaining them from poaching and the illegal killing of protected animal species. Show your love and support for bats by protecting them from this disturbing trade and business practice.PLEASE help put an end to this and stop these products from coming into the United States.