Cocoa Mulch, can kill your pets.....

[remixedcat]

www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=124404

Subject: Pet Owners - Cocoa Mulch Warning
Attention: All pet owners, If you don't have dog or cat pets, please forward this to those folks on your mailing list who do.

Read this carefully. It could save a dog's life.

WARNING - DO NOT USE COCOA MULCH IF YOU OWN PETS - DON'T USE THAT COCOA MULCH!

Verified by Snopes: www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp

VERIFIED ALSO BY GOOGLE

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 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."

True information about the mulch can be found here - www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoa.html <http://www.snop/ >

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@... and request that accurate information about this product be posted on the packaging to avoid further tragedy.

PLEASE GIVE THIS THE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION!!!

Amy Beichler
Executive Director, Public Animal Welfare Society, (PAWS)
A Nonprofit Humane Society Serving the Animals & People of Greater Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Since 1976

[AltruisticCrono]

Ah yes, netlore as it is.

This truth has been circulating on the Internet and emails for a few years. Hershey apparently puts the warning on their label and advises owners of pets not to use it (or be very careful). They offer the product to cut down on waste landfill and it has similar benefits to traditional mulch.

www.hersheys.com/mulch/faq.shtml

Use netlore and rumor websites with caution. It is the Internet afterall.

[remixedcat]

I was just checking to see if anyone knew this or not.

[ForeverZeroUltima]

Hadn't heard about this, but...

Come on. All dog owners should know that chocolate is poisonous to them (dunno about other pets). Don't mean to sound cynical, but this strikes me as pure negligence on the owner's part, really.

[ZaCloud]

Sadly, most pet owners DON'T know. Almost every day I hear people talking about how much their dogs love chocolate cake and crap, and I just have to run over and tell them why they need to immediately stop feeding them that. Even if they don't hit lethal levels, it still damages their liver or kidneys (I forget which) over time. Same with xylitol sweetener; humans can process it with zero harm, but dogs and cats can't. Even grapes, believe it or not.

It really does need to be out in public so everyone can know. There is so much that pet stores don't tell anyone; I know lots of people who see goldfish in cartoons and on tv just in a fishbowl, so they do it like that then wonder why the fish dies within a couple days every time... The seller fails to let them know that aeriation is absolutely essential.

It's not always the owners' fault in that case. So it IS good for people to make others aware of these events, so they will no longer be ignorant and make the same mistake...

[remixedcat]

Well I am glad to know that you know about this. I hope you spread the word about this mulch.

[AltruisticCrono]

Thanks for the warning though. It's good to inform the forum for topical and helpful tips about events/happenings. ;D