'No tolerance': American pro surfer and shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton hits out at dog owners and issues stark warning after seven-year-old son Wesley attacked

Sky News AU

17 hours ago

Bethany Hamilton has divided the internet after taking aim at irresponsible dog owners following a terrifying dog attack on her seven-year-old son, Wesley.
The American pro surfer and author, 35, took to social media on Monday to detail the incident and share images of her son's injuries, prompting a wave of discussion about aggressive dogs in public spaces.
Hamilton, who lost her left arm in a shark attack at age 13 while surfing in Kauai, is no stranger to traumatic encounters with animals.
Despite the 2003 incident- during which a 14-foot tiger shark struck while she was out at Tunnels Beach- she was back on a board within a month.
Her remarkable story was later brought to the big screen in the 2011 hit film Soul Surfer.
Now a mother of four, Hamilton said her perspective on dangerous animals, particularly dogs, has shifted since becoming a parent.
"A couple of weeks ago, my son got bit by a dog," she wrote on Instagram Stories, alongside a close-up image of the bite.
"I'm feeling very disappointed in dogs and dog owners. I feel like the amount of unruly dogs nowadays is higher than ever."
In a follow-up post, Hamilton said she reported the dog and called for greater accountability: "I think society at large should have no tolerance for unruly dogs."
She later shared a photo of her two-year-old daughter Alaya at the beach with a blunt caption: "More thoughts on dogs. Beware of dogs. They kill more humans than any other animal in America."
Hamilton then invited her 2.6 million followers to share their own views- and the flood of responses prompted her to post a video explaining the full story.
"What happened with Wesley was we were on a little date, we got a kombucha, and then we were going into this shop," she said from her home in the Hawaiian arpegio.
"And then we came out and we were in chill mode, super slow... And this dog was laying underneath a table.
"He was leashed. And then he just lunged up and bit Wesley as we were walking by."
She admitted her son had been "on the closer side to the dog" and the attack was "really off her radar", even though she's generally more alert around dogs when with her children.
"To be clear, I actually like dogs, I'm more of a dog person than a cat person, and I've had a lot of dogs growing up," she said, admitting she owned one of the more "aggressive breeds".
Reflecting on her past experience, Hamilton said she now believes she was "really blind" to how dangerous her dogs were.
"Seeing a lot of comments and messages, a lot of people kinda want to just blame the dog owner, which probably has a lot to do with a lot of the bad dogs out there- that these owners aren't being responsible enough for surrounding their dogs, or they're not facing the reality of their dog being more aggressive or older and getting to that age of more aggression," she said.
"So my two cents is, a lot comes back to the dog owner."
She added that anyone taking their dog out in public should "for sure" leash them and consider a muzzle if needed.
"I think the normalisation of so many dogs in public, and everywhere being dog-friendly is dangerous," she said.
"And the big thing that I got in the messages too was the amount of people who have nice dogs who have their dogs getting attacked by dogs that are not nice.
"It's a big issue. Like the fact that dogs kill more people than any other animal- it should be talked about, we should be aware."
While Hamilton didn't cite a source for that claim, she clarified that she's not trying to instil fear in her children.
She said she's encouraged Wesley to play with dogs since the attack, but admitted the situation could have been far worse if it had involved Alaya.
"While I wish it was me, I'm glad it wasn't my two-year-old," she said.
"It would have been super bad because of her small size and the malleability of her flesh."
Hamilton did not confirm the breed of dog involved in the incident.