A Lackawanna couple has been permanently banned from ever owning or caring for an animal again after pleading guilty to starving two dogs in their home, one of them fatally. Stephen Andres, 42, was sentenced to six months in jail followed by five years of probation, while his wife, Tara Andres, 44, received five years of probation.
The sentences, handed down in Erie County Court, cap a case that began when Stephen Andres himself called SPCA Serving Erie County on Feb. 5, 2026 to ask for help removing his deceased dog from the couple's home, according to wnymedia.net. When officers arrived at the residence in the 2700 block of South Park Avenue, they found not just the dead dog but a second animal also suffering from neglect.
That second dog, a roughly 7-year-old mixed breed named Diamond, was taken to the SPCA for evaluation. The organization's chief veterinarian determined she was emaciated from prolonged starvation, the outlet reported. Diamond has since been adopted by a former SPCA veterinarian and continues to recover, authorities said.
A Necropsy Confirms Chronic Starvation
The dog that did not survive, a roughly 10-month-old mixed breed named Bones, was sent to Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine for a necropsy. A veterinary pathologist who examined the puppy concluded the death was likely caused by chronic and prolonged starvation, per the same account from the station's reporting.
Both Stephen and Tara Andres pleaded guilty in July 2026 to one count of aggravated cruelty to animals, a Class E felony. The Erie County District Attorney's Office identified the charge as a felony under New York State Agriculture and Markets Law. The statute itself, titled “Overdriving, torturing, and injuring animals” under Agriculture and Markets Law § 353, is laid out by the New York State Unified Court System.
Court Imposes Lifetime Ban on Owning Animals
Beyond the jail time and probation, Erie County Court issued a lifetime securing order barring both defendants from owning, harboring or having custody or control of any animals going forward. The order effectively closes the door on the couple ever keeping a pet again in connection with this case.
Permanent bans of this kind have shown up in other recent Erie County animal-cruelty cases. In July 2026, a 21-year-old man named Emery S. Kawski was sentenced to five years of probation and permanently banned from owning or having custody of any animals after pleading guilty in the fatal stabbing of his dog, a four-year-old Boston terrier named Pop Rocks, inside his Tonawanda residence, according to syracuse.com. A necropsy in that case found the dog died from multiple sharp-force trauma wounds to his abdomen.
Court records and the Erie County District Attorney's Office have not released further detail on the exact terms of either Andres's probation or where Stephen Andres will serve his jail sentence. What is documented is the outcome for the two dogs who were pulled from the South Park Avenue home: one gone, one given a second chance with a new family.
