Two women who care for stray cats were “violently” handcuffed and arrested by police after city officials in Alabama ordered the officers to detain them, according to a federal civil rights lawsuit.
Beverly Roberts, now 86, and Mary Alston, now 61, were accused of trespassing and were jailed after they set out to capture a cat they intended to have spayed in June 2022 in Wetumpka , the lawsuit said.
The women argue they were on public property and their arrests — as well as the criminal prosecutions that followed — were in retaliation for taking care of the city’s feral cats and advocating for animal rights, according to a complaint filed Jan. 24.
Before Roberts and Alston were detained, they “safely and responsibly” captured stray cats to arrange for them to be spayed, neutered and potentially homed since animal rights organizations lacked the resources to do so, according to a complaint.
However, this angered Wetumpka Mayor Jerry Willis, Chief of Police Greg Benton and Assistant Chief of Police Ed Reeves, the complaint said.