Fishermen angling at a Mississippi lake reeled in more than three dozen baffled hound dogs treading water.
Bob Gist of Jonesboro, Arkansas; Brad Carlisle of Covington, Tennessee; and local fishing guide, Jordan Chrestman, took a boat out to Grenada Lake for a day of fishing, earlier this month, according to WMC-TV.
It wasn't long into their excursion Chrestman noticed something peculiar in the water. As they drew their boat closer, the men realized several dogs "wearing expensive radio collars and white paint on them" were struggling to stay afloat.
The men made two trips back and forth from the dock to rescue the 38 dogs from the water.
"When we first started there was this white one that Brad tried to reach for and the dog bit at him. He moved closer to me, so I tried to reach for him, and he tried to bite me, so we left him." Gist said, according to KEGI. "When we came back for the second load it was probably 30-45 minutes later. By that time, he was ready to get in the boat. He wasn't biting anybody."
Gist said the dogs were chasing a deer when they were led into the water.
"The dogs kept trying to follow the deer and got lost," he said, noting "the dogs may have all died," if they hadn't shown up.
The dog owners reportedly tried to pay the men for the massive rescue, but they declined.
Instead, Chrestman told them: "When you see us in trouble, ya'll come help us."
