Reuben Pierce, 70, died three months after being mauled by three violent pit bulls.
Complaint and Judgment
Jacksonville, AR - On October 30, 2023, "Reuben Pierce was attacked and mauled by defendants’ pit bull dogs. Reuben Pierce’s injuries were horrible and painful. Mr. Pierce was hospitalized and received medical care from October 30, 2023, until he passed away on January, 24, 2024," state court filings. On August 19, 2024, Judge Sanders Huckabee awarded the plaintiff a judgment against the defendants in the amount $5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.
There were no media reports about this vicious attack when it occurred or at the time of Pierce's death. The first reports occurred in early April 2024, after the wrongful death lawsuit was filed on March 27, 2024 in the Circuit Court of Lonoke County. Both media reporting sources (The Arkansas Leader and The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) are behind paywalls. However, the state of Arkansas has an open court record system, so we were able to obtain the relevant court filings for our readers.
The October attack occurred in the 200 block of Morgan Road in Jacksonville, where the defendants, Kenneth Cash and Jennifer Swartz, reside. Pierce lived across the street from the pair, according to property records. Both Cash and Swartz were sued for "wrongful death, negligence, battery, tort of outrage and punitive damages," states the filing. "Defendants were aware that their pit bulls had dangerous tendencies because the dogs had attacked and bitten other people," alleges the filing.
Included in the Complaint was a montage of images showing the "horrible and painful" injuries that Pierce sustained, while he spent the last few months of his life in a hospital, enduring "pain and suffering, mental anguish, severe injuries, and medical bills," states the filing. "The "defendants intentionally kept the pit bulls even though they knew they were dangerous and have attacked people in the past." The dogs belonging to the couple had also attacked other neighbors, alleges the filing.
Not long after the Pierce attack, a neighbor came under attack by the same dogs and was able to shoot and kill two of the pit bulls, reports The Leader.
The defendants represented themselves pro se and supplied a "handwritten" Response. They denied all 16 allegations. The judge disagreed. "Based upon the proof presented," the Court wrote, the "plaintiff is awarded compensatory damages of $5,000,000 and punitive damages of $10,000,000, for a total award of $15,000,000, against defendants, Kenneth Cash and Jennifer Swartz, jointly and severally." The defendants were ordered to supply the Court with a list of all assets within 45 days.
According to property records, Swartz purchased the home on the Ides of March 2023. Within seven months, the couple's pit bulls had attacked multiple neighbors and mauled Pierce. Both Cash and Swartz had been backyard breeding pit bulls, according to their Facebook pages. The stud, "Boss Hogg Cash" died in September 2022. The female, Izzy, had a litter in November 2022 (the last pairing with Boss Hogg). The Leader reported that three pit bulls were in involved in the mauling of Pierce.
Online court records show that Swartz was charged with two counts of unlawful dog attack, each a Class A misdemeanor, after Pierce's attack. Last month, she pleaded no contest to both charges. She was ordered to pay $2,320. Due to the civil judgment, she will likely now owe the Court funds for the rest of her life. Cash has a history of misdemeanor charges, largely driving offenses. However, that escalated in May 2024 after another traffic stop resulted in a felony drug possession charge.
The Massive Award
When defendants lack resources, large awards like this one are symbolic victories. Notably, The Leader reports that Jacksonville attorney John Ogles, who represented the estate of Pierce, also won a $1.2 million judgment against the owner of two pit bulls that attacked a Maumelle man and his dog last year. The defendant, Paul Stehley, was ordered to start making that payment in May 2023, however, Stehley appealed the order. The case has been stayed until the appeal is resolved.
Arkansas BSL Cities
Both symbolic monetary awards come as multiple jurisdictions in Arkansas are under pressure by pit bull advocates to repeal longstanding pit bull bans. In 2021, Cabot replaced their ban with mandatory sterilization and insurance requirements. Beebe kept their ban after hearing from Robby Taylor's parents in 2021, while Maumelle repealed their ban. In 2022, Jacksonville, the city where Pierce was mauled, kept their ban. Currently, Lonoke is considering a repeal of its ban, as is Sherwood.
The owner's Facebook pages: The primary stud, "Boss Hogg Cash," died in September 2022. The female, "Izzy," had puppies in November 2022. Two puppies seen in January 2023.
View the DogsBite.org Google Map: Arkansas Fatal Pit Bull Maulings.Related articles:
07/04/24: 2024 Dog Bite Fatality: Man, 41, Killed by His XL Bully, the Largest Sized Pit Bull Breed
01/19/24: 2023 Dog Bite Fatality: Arkansas Man Arrested After Pack of Guarding Breeds and...
03/16/23: Arkansas House Floor Debate for HB 1519, a Bill Prohibiting Breed-Specific Laws
Law enforcement departments across the United States should release consistent "baseline" information to the media and the public after each fatal dog mauling, including these items.
The only thing missing is jail time which is well warranted. People cannot continue to get a free pass every time their dogs run loose and maul.
Animal Control should be sued too.
I hope the maulers got a dirtnap.
Not only should animal control be sued, it should be sued into the ground.
Likewise, the nonprofit industrial complex of enablers. Go after them too.
People, *this* is the BSL we need: Breed-Specific Litigation.
My cynical side is wondering if the real reason breed bans are being lifted is that towns don’t want to bother taking any action or any responsibility. Can’t sue Animal Control for not doing their job if they can deny there was anything they were supposed to do.
Where I live the Governor has decreed that breed band be abolished in the cities that have a breed ban. We can thank the pitbull lobby for this. Their argument… Not everyone can afford to buy a Golden Retriever (or other nice breed) and Pitbulls are affordable! Shocking decision in its ignorance.
Ludicrous argument from the Governor.
If you can’t afford a Golden Retriever, you can’t afford the legal liability of a pitbull.
Add in to that…WHY are there no “regular” dogs?
Because pitbulls are sucking the money out of the systems that were designed to help homeless family-friendly dogs. Sometimes people get old, or sick, or have accidental hunting puppies, or are forced to move and can’t take their friendly dog etc. etc.
These same people have shut off all avenues to cheap dogs and puppies, such as craig’s list and kajiji so that we’re forced to depend on the pit-pushing organizations that are one of the foundations of this problem.
Sorry, that should have read “breed bans”. It’s just that the whole idea of the Governor listening to an advisor instead of doing his own research makes me so angry I have trouble concentrating on spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
In the USA the Federal Government is responsible for determining the minimum standard of care for, say, animal welfare. Then States can weigh in with their minimum standards, Counties with their minimum standards, and finally Cities. This SHOULD mean that if a specific city believes a Pitbull ban is in the best interests of their citizens the Governor should NOT have the power and authority to change the decision of that city government. I have no idea how this is even legal. It’s a damn shame. Instead of listening to a biased advisor, look into the reasons a city has a breed specific ban!
Rebecca that is 100% the problem.
You can’t sue them if they have no requirements to fix the problems.
Pitbulls legal? We don’t have to pick them up. No dog bite laws? Not our problem if someone gets bit and we were warned half a dozen times the dog was loose and dangerous.
It’s the “I can plead stupid in court” which is about the letter of the law, rather than the spirit of it.
In US jurisprudence, there is federal preemption (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_preemption) and state preemption (https://www.dogsbite.org/legislating-dangerous-dogs-state-preemption-map.php) More information: https://lawatlas.org/datasets/preemption-project
May he rest and peace .if he died would the money go to his family are they going to pay of the ridiculous amount of his hospital bill and his funeral.did they put those killer pitbull down did the state pay or did he pay the 15 millions dollars.
Like most people I’m sure the pit owners don’t have near that kind of money so IF anything gets paid it will have to come out of their homeowners insurance which ultimately raises the rates for the rest of us. Pit bulls are such a losing proposition in every way.
Thank you for the clarification Colleen. I still believe it should be the right of the city to protect their citizens by enacting breed specific bans, but I see now why it is legal.
Unsolicited:
“It’s just that the whole idea of the Governor listening to an advisor instead of doing his own research”
Because it’s a racket. Some shmuck friend of his who is into pitbulls got paid 20K or whatever to tell him what he could have googled.
We had “advisers” in some of our social service agencies. These were invariably friends of the ED who were professional “consultants” and the level of stupid some of them spewed–was nothing short of astonishing. You don’t have to prove you actually know anything to hang a consultant sign on your front door.
The odd one was actually useful or had good ideas but almost all came in with some agenda or other they were pushing.
Same here. Find a pitbull nutter and pay them for advise instead of coming armed to the meeting with actual statistics.
They didn’t put the dogs down after it attacked the man and they attacked another person ?
The article did not get into too many specifics, but yes. After Pierce was attacked, a neighbor shot two of the dogs, killing them.
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“Ogles said the defendants should have known their dogs had attacked and bitten other people. Not long after the Pierce attack, the dogs attacked another individual in the neighborhood who was able to shoot and kill two of them. In an unusual move, Ogles included about 15 pictures of Pierce’s injuries in the suit filings. “I
felt the pictures could show the severity and viciousness of the attack more so than I could in words,” the Jacksonville attorney said.”
The level of stupid and negligent in this story just gets deeper and deeper.