WETUMPKA, Main Street. –
Two Alabama women were convicted of misdemeanor charges for feeding and trapping stray cats.
Wetumpka Municipal Judge Jeff Courtney found 85-year-old Beverly Roberts guilty of trespassing and disorderly conduct on Tuesday, local news outlets reported. Mary Alston, 61, was found guilty of trespassing and interfering with government operations.
Courtney sentenced the two women to two years of unsupervised probation and 10 days in prison. The jail terms were suspended, meaning the women will receive life sentences. Each woman was also fined $100 and ordered to pay court costs.
The verdict follows Courtney’s trial in the small town north of Montgomery. Lawyers for the two women said they would appeal.
The women were arrested by the police in Wetumpka in June and imprisoned. The women had previously been warned not to feed stray animals, the police chief said.
Terry Luck, an attorney for one of the women, earlier said the women performed public service by trapping stray cats and having them spayed and neutered.
Wetumpka Police Chief Greg Benton said feeding the cats caused a nuisance as it attracted more animals to the area. Both women were warned “repeatedly” to stop before being arrested, he said.