TACOMA, Wash. -- The judge in a controversial animal cruelty case issued a warning to animal rights advocates who packed the courtroom on the first day of the trial Tuesday.

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Video: Trial Begins In Attack On Dog

Troy L. Loney, 19, and Steven L. Paulson, 21, both of Wilkeson, are charged with first-degree animal cruelty for allegedly killing a dog with a bow and arrow. If convicted of the felony in Pierce County Superior Court, the men could face a maximum year in prison.

About 50 animal welfare activists filled the courtroom and urged maximum sentences for what they called a cruel and senseless torture death.

Judge Thomas Felnagle ordered spectators not to wear shirts and buttons expressing their views.

"No confrontations, especially out in the hallway," Felnagle said. "I know that sometimes people's emotions can run high but you're just going to have to keep that in check."

According to court papers, Loney and Paulson tied a stray Siberian husky to a tree near Wilkeson Elementary School. The men are accused of shooting the dog with a bow and arrow, removing the arrow and repeating the act 10 times before dumping the dog's body into Wilkeson Creek. The body was not recovered.

Lawyers for the two men say that there must be significant suffering before a felony charge is warranted and that the pair had no intention of torturing the dog.

Loney has said the dog was thin and mangy and they put it out of its misery.

Paulson's lawyer, Philip Bolland, contends the prosecutor's office did not have enough facts to support a felony animal cruelty charge.

Deputy Prosecutor Dennis Ashman said the method the men chose to kill the dog ensured it would suffer unduly.