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.'
This Snopes site gives the following information: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 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 GIVE THIS THE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION!!!