What started out as a nice weekend fishing trip turned into a massive rescue operation for two colleagues at State Farm Insurance for a pack of hunting dogs that almost drowned in a Mississippi lake.
Bob Gist, 61, and his friend had hired a local bass fishing guide named Jordan Chrestman to take them out on Granada Lake, and after a morning without much action, they decided to change spots. That’s when they heard the barking.
Casting their lines, the pair, along with Gist’s friend Brad Carlisle, deduced that some hounds had chased a deer into the lake which was paddling along at a good clip, with the dogs unable to keep pace.
Eventually, Chrestman noticed that the dogs were still there, treading water and barking, and asked Gist if he could take time out of the fishing trip to investigate.
When their bass boat arrived on the scene, it was pandemonium. 38 dogs struggling to stay afloat.
“We’re just flabbergasted because it’s dogs everywhere, and they’re all going in different directions because they can no longer see the bank on either side,” Gist told Fox News Digital.
The three men then knew for sure they were hunting dogs because they had large GPS collars on, which provided a good grip for hauling the soaking-wet dogs out of the lake and onto the boat.
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They needed to make three trips to get them all, bringing the first haul of a dozen hounds to the shore where their anxious owners rejoiced in relief. Traumatized by the event, the dogs were afraid to disembark, believing everything beyond the confines of the boat to be water.
One of the men had the tracking equipment for the dogs’ collars, and joining the rescue effort, led Chrestman and Gist to a third group of dogs that had gotten separated. These were in a very bad way, and could barely keep their heads above water.
In the end, none of the dogs drowned.
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“The hero here is Jordan,” Gist told ABC News, noting that the guide had recognized the danger and sped the boat over. “If it wasn’t for Jordan, there would have been 38 dead dogs.”
“If Brad and I had been there in a boat by ourselves, we wouldn’t have known anything was wrong, but that 20-something-year-old kid—I’m 61, so I’m calling him a kid—he knew something needed to be done,” Gist said similarly, this time to Fox.
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A great thanks to those men who rescued 38 dogs. Hats off to you for saving so many lives, and taking action when needed.