Cocoa Mulch-Lethal to Dogs!

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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 companys website, 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/critter s/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 o f 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
dev eloped 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 [email protected] and request
that accurate information about this product be posted on the packaging to
avoid further tragedy.

Message edited 5/17/2006 9:44:43 AM.

Re: Cocoa Mulch-Lethal to Dogs!

OMG how sad