A Harwood man was convicted Friday of one charge and acquitted of another in an animal cruelty case stemming from the apparent shooting and killing of a Belgian Malinois puppy named Maisie last year.
Robert Anthony Harley, 71, was composed and appeared stoic as he watched jurors read the verdicts.
A video that purported to show Maisie shortly before the shooting went viral last year. It was taken as Shannon Smith-Wood, the dog’s owner, and her friends and family searched desperately for the dog.
Harley was found not guilty of aggravated cruelty to an animal but guilty of animal cruelty. The misdemeanor carries a possible sentence of 90 days’ imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.
“Losing a beloved family dog under these circumstances is truly traumatizing. I am pleased that we got justice today on behalf of Maisie’s family,” State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said in a statement.
Harley was charged May 8, 2025, weeks after the video, taken by Harley’s daughter-in-law Patricia Harley, went viral.
In the video, which was presented as evidence in court, a truck drives toward an intersection. An animal can be seen through foliage, and Patricia Harley can be heard arguing with her children — Harley’s grandchildren — whether the animal is a dog.
The video shows a man in the car, Harley’s son, placing a call to his father.
“Hey, there’s a coyote out here. Pop, where the shotty at, man? I’m gonna drop him,” says Anthony “Tony” Harley Jr.
The vehicle goes into reverse as Patricia Harley keeps the camera fixed on the animal.
“He’s definitely not afraid of us. He’s not running. He’s curious,” Tony Harley says. “Which is the sketchy part.”
The video stops before the elder Harley, who is outside the truck, approaches and shoots the animal.
Candace Harris, Harley’s attorney, argued he had no way of knowing the animal was a dog and especially no way of knowing it was Maisie. She said Harley had reason to believe there was a coyote near his property, so he acted to defend himself, his family and his animals — a rabbit and a dog.
A neighboring property owner testified he had told the family in spring 2025 there were coyotes in the area.
Smith-Wood said she never found Maisie. The puppy had a pink collar, which nobody testified to seeing either on the video or on the night the animal was shot.
In body-worn camera footage showed during the trial, Harley became emotional in describing what happened the night of April 21, 2025.
Harley told Anne Arundel County Police Det. Connie Witt he didn’t know the animal was a dog and said he had to shoot it twice.
Later in the video, Harley said he “called the owner, apologized to her.”
Harley also said the animal “was screaming” after the first shot.
“I was hurting,” Harley said in the video.
Later, he told the detective, if he “knew it was a dog, I would have backed off.”
During the trial, Witt testified Harley never said the animal was behaving aggressively or damaging his property.
Isabelle Ferraro, an assistant state’s attorney, argued that, even if Harley did not know the animal was Maisie, he had no justification for shooting the dog.
That was especially true, she argued, because the people in the truck had been going home and chose to reverse course after they saw the animal.
Harley told Witt he was trying to protect the children but they remained in the truck, said Ferraro, arguing they were not in danger.
“Instead of leaving, they back up,” Ferraro told the jury. “The family that he [Harley] was so worried about backed up.”
Ferraro said the phone call captured on Patricia Harley’s video did not sound frantic. At least one of the children could be heard laughing.
“Maisie was a lost dog, and Maisie was shot twice,” Ferraro said. “She was cruelly killed.”
Harley remained engaged during the trial, watching all the testimony or speaking with his lawyers. He chose not to testify and appeared emotional while speaking with his lawyers about that decision.
After jurors filed out of the courtroom, Judge Mark Crooks told Harley he handled himself well during the proceedings.
His sentencing has not been scheduled.
The Banner’s Alex Mann contributed to this article.
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