Verified incident record · 2026-07-31

Wallace man hospitalized after multi-dog attack; owner faces 32 charges

Marlboro County authorities said a man suffered multiple dog-bite injuries in a July 31 Wallace attack; the owner of eight dogs was arrested on 32 charges. Breed was not reported.

HospitalizedBreed: Unknown / not reportedWallace, SC

Date2026-07-31 · Exact incident time not stated in the sheriff-attributed reports reviewed

LocationOld Wire Road / Wallace community, Marlboro County; BiteDB uses community-level approximate geography rather than a residential address

Victim(s)Adult man; children were present and experienced the incident but were not reported bitten

Dogs involved8 dogs were associated with the owner and incident in sheriff-attributed reporting; reports say the victim was attacked by multiple dogs

Injury severityUnknown / hospitalized (multiple dog bite injuries)

Breed attributionUnknown / not reportedThe sheriff-attributed local reports reviewed did not identify a breed. BiteDB records breed as unknown and does not infer breed from photographs or social-media discussion.

What the record currently shows

Incident summary

Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office-attributed reporting says a man was attacked by multiple dogs in the Wallace community on July 31, 2026. A child called 911, deputies found the victim suffering multiple dog-bite injuries, and he was taken to a hospital. Investigators said the owner acknowledged that eight dogs lived at his Old Wire Road home. Animal Control and deputies seized six dogs; two remained at large during the initial search, and one of those had been shot after acting aggressively. The owner was arrested on 32 dog- and animal-care-related counts. Public reports reviewed did not identify the dogs’ breed or provide a final medical outcome for the victim.

Legal-status note

Sheriff-attributed reporting says Sammy Bethea was arrested and booked into the Marlboro County Detention Center on 32 counts: eight counts each of owning dangerous animals that attack/injure a person, permitting animals to run at large, ill treatment of animals, and failure to provide rabies vaccination. BiteDB records these as charges/allegations, not convictions.

Media & source coverage

Video, reporting and source material

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No source-hosted incident media has been verified for embedding yet.

Source provenance

Primary record used by BiteDB

South Carolina man faces 32 charges after dog attackLocal television reporting citing Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office · Published 2026-08-02 · Accessed 2026-08-30

Local reports citing the Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office say the charges stemmed from a July 31 incident in which a man was attacked by multiple dogs; a child called 911, deputies found multiple bite injuries, and the victim was transported to a hospital. Officials said eight dogs were tied to the owner, six were seized, and two were initially unlocated.

Open source ↗

Data-quality notes

What BiteDB does not infer

Breed is recorded only at the provenance level shown above. Missing injury details, dog history, ownership facts or circumstances remain unknown unless a reliable source establishes them. This record may be updated as police, animal-control, medical, court or follow-up reporting becomes available.

Additional sources

Marlboro County man attacked by dogsLocal newspaper reporting citing Marlboro County Sheriff’s Office · 2026-08-13