4 Paws Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Received this in an email this morning,not sure if it's available here 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 and cats. 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.' Snopes.com verifies this information. See their write-up at http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp 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 Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of th eobromine, 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cockerlover Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 THANKYOU for posting that info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) Not used in Australia, as far as I know. This email floats about every so often... Edited March 10, 2009 by persephone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4 Paws Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Not used in Australia, as far as I know.This email floats about every so often... hopefully it's not available here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgrubber Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I've never seen it . .. but I'm told dogs can get good and sick eating blood and bone meal . . . which IS widely available here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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