A pair of cat ladies in Alabama were given suspended jail terms and penalties for feeding and catching stray cats despite “repeated” warnings not to.
Beverly Roberts, 85, and Mary Alston, 61, must each pay $100 in addition to paying court fees and serving two years of unsupervised probation and ten days in jail. However, the punishment is suspended, so the women will not serve time behind prison.
Tuesday, Roberts was found guilty of criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct, and Alston was found guilty of criminal trespassing and interfering with government activities.
“I am not the first person to feed cats in Wetumpka. People did it long before I did. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Roberts stated in court, “I was just caught.”
When Wetumpka Municipal Judge Jeff Courtney told out that she had not been convicted of “feeding cats,” the octogenarian said, “I know, because it’s not criminal!”
In addition to receiving two years of unsupervised probation and ten days in jail, the couple must each pay $100 in fines and court fees.
The verdicts were issued after a bench trial. Roberts and Alston’s attorneys stated that they will file an appeal.
Police in Wetumpka, Alabama, arrested and detained the two animal lovers in June. The police head stated that the women had been cautioned earlier not to feed stray animals.
An attorney for one of the ladies, Terry Luck, stated earlier that the women were performing a public service by capturing and sterilizing stray cats.
According to Wetumpka Police Chief Greg Benton, feeding the cats was a nuisance since it drew additional animals to the region. He stated that both women had been warned “repeatedly” to cease.
The women’s attorneys asserted that Wetumpka Mayor Jerry Willis ordered Roberts’ detention in revenge for her repeated concerns about animal welfare, an allegation that Willis refuted from the witness stand.
»Cat women in Alabama have been convicted guilty of feeding and catching stray cats«