A fishing trip at Grenada Lake in Mississippi turned into an unexpected rescue mission for three men who saved 38 dogs from drowning. Bob Gist, 61, a State Farm agent from Arkansas, and his friend Brad Carlisle, a State Farm agent from Tennessee, embarked on their fishing adventure with local guide Jordan Chrestman.
Initially, their fishing efforts were fruitless, prompting Chrestman to suggest relocating. It was then they heard barking dogs and soon saw several in the water. The dogs were participating in an annual fox run and had ended up in the lake while chasing a deer.
“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 recounted. All the dogs were wearing expensive GPS radio collars, indicating they were hunting dogs.
Realizing the urgency, Chrestman insisted they check on the dogs. The three men quickly moved to the scene, where they found numerous dogs struggling in the water. Without hesitation, they began pulling as many dogs as possible onto their boat. Chrestman managed to gather between 25 and 27 dogs, ensuring none jumped back into the water.
After returning the first batch of dogs to shore, the men encountered the frantic owners calling for their pets. Using a GPS tracker provided by one of the owners, they located another group of three to four dogs over a mile from the bank. These dogs were nearing exhaustion after treading water for an hour.
“We got back over to the ramp with that last bunch of dogs… [and] we were having to drag them out of the boat because they didn’t want to get out of our boat. They were scared they were going back to the water. It was terrible,” Gist said.
Despite the owners’ attempts to reward Chrestman, he refused any payment. Gist praised Chrestman, calling him the hero of the rescue. “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 added.
Gist expressed gratitude for being part of the mission, but he emphasized Chrestman’s critical role. “That kid had the presence of mind to know, ‘If we don’t do something, there’s going to be 38 dead dogs here.’ And he saved them, I mean we all pulled them in, but that kid is the hero here,” he said.
The dramatic rescue highlights the quick thinking and teamwork of the fishermen, turning a routine fishing trip into a life-saving operation for dozens of dogs.
