Dog Lovers

[brnidokiegurl 0]

Verified by Snopes!

Yesterday one of our dog agility friends experienced a tragedy and wanted me

to pass a special message along to all of my dog loving friends and family. Please

tell every dog owner you know.

Over the weekend the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa

Mulch from Target to use in their garden. They loved the way it smelled and

it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog Calypso

decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large

helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something

new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and

took Calypso out for her morning walk. Half way through the walk, she had a

seizure and died instantly.

Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further

investigation on the company's website, this product is HIGHLY toxic to

dogs.

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that "It is true

that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer

physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog).

However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it." True information about the mulch can

be found here - http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoa.htm.

This site gives the following information: Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by

Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other Garden supply stores, contains

a lethal ingredient called "Theobromine" . It is lethal to dogs and cats. It

smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this

stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks. Just a

word of caution, check what you are using in your gardens and be aware of

what your gardeners are using in your gardens.

Theobromine is the ingredient that is used to make all chocolate especially

dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain

potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in

effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity

of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and

died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao

bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine. Please

email the manufacturer at michellemessick@ hersheys. com and request that

accurate information about this product be posted on the packaging to avoid

further tragedy.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Thanks for the info, brnidokiegurl.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

sad

[✿Ice Rain✿ 0]

Informative. thanks

[Reba 2]

Chocolate of any type can be toxic to dogs and cats. I thought that was commong knowledge. The darker the chocolate, the more toxic it is. Keep all sorts of chocolates away from your pets, including, obviously, cocoa mulch.

[AnaAndDaniel 0]

Chocolate of any type can be toxic to dogs and cats. I thought that was commong knowledge. The darker the chocolate, the more toxic it is. Keep all sorts of chocolates away from your pets, including, obviously, cocoa mulch.

can be, but it isn't always.

Ana makes chocolate candy. usually dark chocolate. one day, our dog decided he wanted the position of Quality Control Engineer and wolfed down a whole tray of chocolate candies whilst Ana and I were out of the house. The dude pulled the table cloth and made the tray fall down.

The dude is no worse for it. Apparently he approved of the quality, the entire tray was wiped out.

Daniel