Two women who managed a cat colony in their Alabama hometown — and were rewarded with an infamously tone-deaf arrest and criminal conviction for their efforts — have raised $85,000 for their appeal.
This time, their fate won’t be decided by a small-time judge appointed by the same mayor who ordered police to arrest the women in the first place.
Mary Alston and Beverly Roberts of Wetumpka, Ala., were arrested on June 25 after three police cars pulled up and four officers surrounded them on public land, demanding they stop their efforts to trap feral cats and leave the area immediately.
Alston and Roberts, who were in disbelief that four officers had been dispatched and were treating them like hardened criminals, didn’t move fast enough for the cops, who berated them and placed them both in handcuffs before charging them with a pair of misdemeanors each.
Their attorneys fought for months to obtain a copy of the police body camera videos of the arrest, and when they finally obtained that copy, it became apparent why the Wetumpka Police Department fought to keep it out of their hands.
The footage shows officers warning the women the confrontation was “going to get ugly,” insulting them and joking that they were “a bunch of cops beatin’ up on some old ladies.” It showed the police escalated the situation and had little regard for two women who were doing their hometown a service by managing a stray cat colony and conducting TNR — trap, neuter, return — to prevent the cats from breeding and multiplying.
They were convicted in a December trial that was followed by local and national media.
Now Roberts, 85, and Alston, 61, have raised $85,195 for their appeal via GoFundMe, with more than 3,000 donors across the US contributing to the fund.
After filing an appeal on Dec. 19, the women have been notified that their first hearing is set for Feb. 23 in front of 19th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Amanda Baxley, said Mary King, Roberts’ daughter. Baxley was sworn in earlier this month and begins her tenure on Jan. 17 after she was elected to the post in November.
In a December trial, attorneys for Alston and Roberts revealed it was Wetumpka Mayor Jerry Willis who personally dispatched the officers by calling the assistant chief after spotting Alston’s car parked near a wooded area owned by the county. The lawyers also questioned Willis on his history of feuding with the pair on animal-related issues.
Although Willis testified that he did not tell police to arrest the women, Officer Jason Crumpton testified that he was indeed instructed to make the arrests before he arrived and determined what the women were doing.
Despite the fact that Wetumpka does not have laws against feeding or trapping cats, municipal Judge Jeff Courtney, who is directly employed by the town instead of being answerable to voters, found Alston and Roberts guilty of two misdemeanors each, sparking an outcry in local and national media. Courtney found Roberts guilty of trespassing and disorderly conduct, while he found Alston guilty of trespassing and interfering with governmental operations, an analogue for resisting arrest.
“I thought that they surely had more pressing issues to attend to,” Roberts told PITB in December. “I really thought the judge would dismiss it and tell the city to work it out.”
The arrest and conviction were widely panned by observers, including Alabama Political Reporter’s Josh Moon, who called the drama an “utterly absurd” spectacle that “reeks of small town politics.”
Roberts and Alston hope Baxley will give them a fair trial, which they believe they did not receive under Courtney in Wetumpka.
In the meantime, the colony cats in Wetumpka remain on their own. Willis, who has not responded to requests for comment by PITB, allegedly rejected offers by animal welfare groups in neighboring towns to care for the cats.
“We are very worried about them,” Roberts told PITB last month. “A few animal lovers have said they would help, but we are not sure this will happen. I’m not sure there is enough food available to hunt. The weather is getting colder, and they need protein.”
Pain In The Bud 
Thank you for this update! Let’s hope some kindly souls have been feeding and caring for the cats. And let’s hope the cops, the mayor and the judge will get their comeuppance.
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Ultimately it’ll have to come at the ballot box, but a civil judgment would be nice in the meantime. The mayor proved his own stubbornness again by refusing help from animal welfare groups. Does he think the cats will just disappear if he ignores them? I don’t even want to think of the alternative.
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Doing tnr for quite a few years i know what an outcome for unwanted ferals can be. Even fixed ferals.
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Small town political games and the clowns that play them … I guess the mayor, cops and judge have to learn the hard way.
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It’s hard to believe Alabama people are being so silly and acting so ugly. When I lived there, everyone had more sense. The cat ladies are doing the town a favor.
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Yep. If the mayor and police are like this over colony management, I’d hate to see how they handle other incidents.
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Maybe they have no other incidents and that’s why they overreacted. The Cat Ladies are the only “criminals”in town!
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Thanks for reporting on the situation, Big Buddy.
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Cheers, Lavinia. Bud and I will keep on it!
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I’m glad they were able to raise those funds! I saw both Sterling Davis The Trap King and Jackson Galaxy post about it on IG so that has to have helped. Sure hope the cats are being cared for. Going to post this on fb today.
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I am worried about the cats that are left with no food. Very sad a grouchy old man can control their fate
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I hope someone’s sneaking in there and feeding them, if they’re still there and haven’t been culled. Maybe that’s why the mayor doesn’t want anyone going near there.
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My neighbor who has small colony makes sure to feed at night. No one is bothering him now about feeding cats but in past person did. Always best to feed a colony at night in general. No one around and ferals come out in dark.
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I’m sorry this even had to happen & I worry about the cat’s. Tbh I worry about the ladies, especially the one on her 80’s. She was only trying to do the right thing & now GoFundMe or not she’s probably worried sick as everyone else is. I wish both ladies & the kitties much luck & an eventual fair resolution to this situation. These officers just anger me! Really, what were they thinking & I hope they haven’t done anything to move or harm those ferals! I just can’t trust people who arrest & belittle 2 older women who were doing their best to be kind & help out some cats who obviously need them.
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If I’d have won that billion dollar lottery – which I surely should have – a huhYOOGE chunk of it would have gone to this fund.
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These women are kind and humane, as opposed to the officials in that town. This is ridiculous-the best thing that can be done for ferals is to spay, neuter, feed and protect them. Humans are the reason they are out there to begin with!
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Well put, Nena. Welcome to the blog! If you like cats, feel free to stay and look around.
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Feeding the cats is not the only answer. They must begin with spading and neutering. You will never stop the problem unless a local vet can step up and help. Health strays that are fed and protected will cause no impact on other wildlife and will not grow in size. Makes everybody should be happy
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