3 People In Tonawanda Charged With Animal Abuse To 23 Animals

Three people were arrested in Tonawanda on severe animal cruelty charges. Charges include torturing and starving dogs and a cat. Three Town of Tonawanda residents have been charged in the case. Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 30-year-old Jamie D. Aaron, 47-year-old Marybeth Aaron and 43-year-old Marc R. Scholes.

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The three alleged animal abusers appeared in court recently before Tonawanda Town Court Justice J. Mark Gruber. Each was charged with 23 counts of Overdriving, Torturing and Injuring Animals; Failure to Provide Proper Sustenance, and 23 counts of Failure to Provide Proper Food and Drink to Impounded Animal.

Scholes and Marybeth Aaron also face an additional charge of one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

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On Tuesday, August 8, 2023, SPCA investigators and members of the Town of Tonawanda Police Department executed a search warrant at the defendant's home on Dupont Avenue. The 22 dogs and one cat were confined in the defendant's home in unsanitary conditions with no access to food and water. The SPCA Serving Erie County took possession of all of the animals.

Also found in the home was a 12-year-old child who lived there. According to the D.A.,

Marc R. Scholes and Marybeth Aaron, the child’s caregivers, are accused of knowingly acting in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental or moral welfare of a child involving a substantial risk of danger to the children’s life or health due to the unsanitary conditions of the home.

Aaron, Aaron, and Scholes are scheduled to return to court on Thursday, September 28, 2023, at 2:00 pm.