Cocoa Mulch

[Mistyrayn]

Anyone who has a pet, knows someone who has a pet, or lives in

a neighborhood where there are pets should pay heed.

Please pass this on to those who will either be putting down mulch this

season or who have 4 legged kids. Please tell every dog or cat owner you

know. Even if you don't have a pet,please pass this to those who do..

Overthe 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.'

This Snopes site gives the followinginformation:snopes.com:

< http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp>

Cocoa Mulch and

Dogs 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 theobromine, axanthine

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 GIVE THIS THE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION!!!

[Sarah]

OMG - Thanks Richard, added to REP!

[MyMukki]

added to rep!

sticking to hay

[Olympia]

Thanks for the heads up!!

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

i got this on fb earlier was gonna post it but u beat me 2 it lol

[Mistyrayn]

i got this on fb earlier was gonna post it but u beat me 2 it lol

LOL sorry nixy

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

lol dont wrry i 4give ya

[siberian_wolf]

OMG! Thats shocking! Thanks for warning us, will pass this on! added to rep