BYRON, Ga. — Byron resident Dawn Shover has something to say.
After her 'Chief' overheated in an RV, she is urging people to be more careful with their pets during the summer.
She was traveling to Ohio with her husband in their camper to visit their grandkids. They say they left the generator running, but they came back to find their dog unresponsive.
“My husband opens the door and he doesn't see Chief and he steps into the camper and when he got into the camper Chief was laying on the floor barely breathing,” Shover said.
She said his body was lifeless.
“You can tell that he had a little seizure because he had foam coming from his mouth," Shover said. "He was hot - my husband picked him up and he was burning up."
It was supposed to be a fun day at the fair with the grandkids. Shover says they left the generator running to power the air conditioning to keep Chief cool, but he wasn't running around upon their return.
“We made sure the generator was full of gas and made sure everything was good,” Shover said.
Once she realized the RV was hot, she knew something was wrong.
“The inside of the camper was over 100 degrees and the air wasn't running, the fans weren't running, we had no lights, the generator was shut off,” Shover said.
Shover says she and her husband just bought a new generator
“It kicked so hard that it blew the fuse and the generator," Shover said. "It knocked the generator out."
She said Chief was left alone for six hours. It's a tricky situation to keep RV's running, says Randy Bryant, who owns Ponderosa Campgrounds in Fort Valley.
He says it's important to keep your animals safe while making sure you don't keep everything on for long stretches of time.
"They have to be careful not to overload the air conditioner, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker all that will trip their breaker on their camper,” Bryant said.
Shover says she wants to turn her devastation into a PSA to warn people who travel in RVs with their pets.
“This could have been prevented," Shover said. "They say what you need on these air conditioners is a soft start. These should be things that are automatic on these campers your spending."