Cocoa Mulch

[greyhoundlov]

I received this e-mail:

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 web site, it was learned that 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_

(<a href="http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoa.htm" target="_blank">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.

 

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Edited June 9, 2008 by greyhoundlov

[ShantisMom]

YIIKES! We use to put it in our front area to keep a stray cat out. Glad it was not in the back! Won't do that again.

 

It does smell great. Not worth the risk though.