MULCH - Page 1

Subject: Attention Dog and Cat Lovers 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 companies web site, 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/cocoamulch.asp http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cocoa-mulch.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 'Theo bromine'. 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. Theo bromine 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 GIVE THIS WIDEST DISTRIBUTION

 This is VERY, VERY old and has been going around the internet for years.  The credibility of this is completely suspect although in certain doses, chocolate is toxic to dogs.

Looks like another excuse for another legal suit to me.....the list goes on on and on.Any excuse.

no it is true a friend of mine had a black lab that died from this

Here in the UK there has been recent death of a dog due to cocoa mulch which has made the press and  there has even been a letter circulated to all the Police dog training schools due to it.

Sadly there are many gardening things such as slug pellets that "can" be lethal to dogs, and people should be aware.

Mind you for every one that gets ill as a result there will be hundres that dont, many years ago I had a doberman who stole a very large box of very rich chocolate and suffered no after effects other than having to pass the wrappers!

 The bottom line is that one should never leave a dog unsupervised where they can eat anything....

so you should go out and watch your dog everytime it goes outside in your yard?

that seems a little extreme to me.

I didn't know about this, and a friend had just emailed it to me.  I figured if I didn't know, then there may be other's who didn't.  next time I won't be courteous and pass helpful information on to the board.