Bethany Hamilton Opens Up About Son’s ‘Unprovoked’ Dog Attack, Warns About Dog Safety

Bethany Hamilton is sharing new details about her son’s recent incident with a local dog.

The professional surfer, 35, took to her Instagram Stories to explain more about the scary situation regarding her son getting bitten by a dog. In a series of videos, she explained the full story of what happened before diving into her thoughts on the situation.

“We were on a little date. We got a kombucha, and then we were going into this shop [to] look at the clothing,” she began.

“And then we came out and we were in chill mode, super slow,” Hamilton continued. “Wesley wasn’t feeling amazing, and this dog was lying underneath the table. He was leashed, and then he just lunged up and bit Wesley as we were walking by, and Wesley was on the closer side of the dog, and it was just really off my radar because I have been more aware of dogs around my children.”

Hamilton briefly paused her recounting of the story to clarify that she likes dogs and had a lot of them growing up. However, she explained that she had “really aggressive dogs” and thinks she may not have been “a good owner” or had “more of an aggressive breed.” She went on to say that a lot of responsibility falls on the dog owner.

“A lot comes back to the dog owner,” she said. “If you do have a dog in public, maybe for sure having it on a leash, maybe even putting a muzzle on it, if you really want it in public. I think the normalization of so many dogs in public, everywhere being dog-friendly is dangerous.”

Since welcoming her children, the mom of four said that she has to face the reality regarding dangerous dogs. Despite that, Hamilton said that she encourages her children to interact with dogs and not fear them.

“Now that I have children, like I’m facing the realities of like there’s a lot of dangerous dogs out there,” she said, adding that she doesn’t teach her children to fear dogs. “Wesley [has] played with a couple of dogs since he got there, and I like just keep reminding him like, ‘Hey, not every dog’s mean.'”

Hamilton first revealed her son was bitten by a dog on Monday, Aug. 4, sharing a series of photos on her Instagram. “A couple of weeks ago, my son got bit by a dog. Not provoked. And super random,” she wrote across a photo of her son’s arm, which showed a dog bite.

“The dog was on a leash even. I’m feeling very disappointed in dogs and dog owners. I feel like the amount of unruly dogs nowadays is higher than ever,” she continued. “I used to have poor behaving dogs. And I was blind to it.”

“If you have means dogs, PLEASE leave them home. Also, if your dog is getting really old and grumpy, leave them home. Wish it was me instead but glad it wasn’t worse. Also glad it wasn’t my toddler…”

She included a second photo of the bite, writing, “For the future safety of the local community and the keiki I reported the dog…I think society at large should have no tolerance for unruly dogs in particular.”

The mom of four went on to share a third photo on her Instagram, this time of a beach and her toddler. “More thoughts on dogs. Be aware of dogs. They kill more humans than any other animal in America. If you’re gonna be a dog owner, you need to be a responsible one,” she wrote.

Hamilton, who was 13 when she lost her arm in a 2003 shark attack, shares her kids Alayah, 2, Micah, 3, Wesley, 6, and Tobias, 9, with husband Adam Dirks.