Actor James Cromwell has been charged with a civil ordinance violation for allegedly disrupting a university meeting in Madison to protest animal testing.

The 73-year-old actor and 27-year-old activist Jeremy Beckham were charged on Friday with disorderly conduct for the February 7 protest at a University of Wisconsin Board of Regents meeting.

The violations are not criminal charges but carry fines of up to 1,000 dollars.

The two allegedly held large signs showing a cat with metal implanted in its head at a UW-Madison lab, while shouting about the treatment of cats.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports the two are scheduled to appear in court March 25.

Cromwell was nominated for an Academy Award for the 1995 film Babe. Other credits include LA Confidential, The Green Mile and The Artist.