Animal rights organisations protested after Beverly Roberts, 85, and Mary Alston, 61, were arrested near the courthouse in Elmore County in eastern Alabama, the Montgomery Advertiser reports.

The pair were known to local officials for trapping stray cats and having them neutered at their own expense — a humane way of limiting the growth of feral cat populations.

However, county officials claimed that feeding the cats in a car park near the courthouse had attracted more wild animals who had gone on to damage county and private vehicles parked there.

Ms Roberts was found guilty of criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct while Ms Alston was convicted of criminal trespassing and interfering with governmental operations.

Both were sentenced to two years’ unsupervised probation and 10 days’ imprisonment, with the prison sentence suspended.