As a journalist you’re told that if a dog bites a man it's not news, but if a man bites a dog it is. Okay, we can handle that, but what happens when the man thinks the dog is a shark. We know that your not afraid of sharks, but some of us here at Miamist grew up watching Jaws and the Princess bride (don't tell us you forgot about the scary looking eels already). Even so, we are willing to throw caution to the wind for a chance to run into the cool aqua waves and hope that the odds are in our favor. While one swimmer on Miami Beach managed to avoid the sharks, he couldn't quite get away from a pit bull that was also taking a summer swim.

The swimmer was attacked yesterday morning near 4th and Ocean. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue treated the man for severe bites, but the dog and its owner pulled a bite and run and have not yet been found. It is illegal to have a pit bull in Miami-Dade. Owners can be fined $500 and the dog confiscated.

photo credit: Flickr