What started as a day on the water with a friend turned into a rescue mission for 38 dogs.
Bob Gist, 61, a State Farm agent in Arkansas, decided to go on a fishing trip with his friend Brad Carlisle, a State Farm agent in Tennessee, after not seeing each other for a while, Gist told Fox News Digital.
The two went to Grenada Lake in Mississippi and got in touch with Jordan Chrestman, a local fishing guide, who led them out into the water.
After fishing all morning and not finding much luck, the group moved to a different location.
“We moved about a half mile from where we were going and we started fishing, and pretty quickly we could hear some dogs barking,” Gist said.
“Soon, we saw some dogs on the horizon in the water.”
The dogs were part of an annual fox race held in the area, Gist said he learned after meeting them.
Chrestman saw a deer in the water and a group of dogs tried to chase the animal.
“We fished for about 10 or 15 more minutes, and Jordan (Chrestman) said, ‘Hey guys, if you don’t mind, we need to check on that dog because it’s out in that water. ,'” Gist said.
Gist and Carlisle asked Chrestman to lead them to the dog.
When the boat reached that place, the three people were amazed.
“We are just flabbergasted because it is a dog everywhere, and they are all going in different directions because they can no longer see the bank on either side,” said Gist.
“And they all hunted dogs— we can see it clearly because we have an expensive GPS radio necklace.
Without hesitation, the dogs were taken to the boat to avoid drowning.
“We immediately started calling the dog in the boat, you know, grabbing the collar and putting it in the (bass) boat,” Gist said.
The three fishermen caught as many dogs as they could and put them in the boat before leaving the room.
Chrestman was able to gather 25 to 27 dogs, so that none of the dogs tried to jump back into the water.
After the men returned the dogs to the bank, they found the owner panicking and calling for help, Gist said.
After rescuing the second group of dogs, one man on land told Gist and the others that he had a GPS tracker for the dogs and asked if they could join the rescue.
The tracker led others to an additional group of three to four dogs that were estimated to be more than a mile from the bank, according to Gist.
“He almost drowned, because he’s been treading water for an hour now,” Gist said.
“We went back to the ramp with the last dog … (and) we had to drag him out of the boat because he didn’t want to get out of the boat. They were afraid to go back into the water. It was terrible.”
The dog’s owner tried to pay Chrestman, but he refused to accept the reward, Gist said.
Gist has labeled Chrestman a true hero of dog rescue.
“If Brad and I had been in the boat by ourselves, we wouldn’t have known anything was wrong, but a 20-year-old kid — I’m 61, that’s why I call him a kid — he knew something had to be done,” Gist said.
“That kid had the presence of mind to realize, ‘If we don’t do something, there’s going to be 38 dead dogs here.’ And he saves her, I mean we’re all pulling for him, but the kid is the hero here.
Gist said that while he gives full credit to Chrestman, he is grateful that he helped in his mission to bring the animals to safety.
