Warning for Pet Owners!
By: Serena Scott Thomas
Over the weekend, the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased
Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. The dogs loved the way it
smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their
dog (Calypso) decided 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 said, 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.”
*Snopes site gives information on Cocoa Mulch
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.
EwingSIR does not guarantee information contained in this blog, readers are encouraged not to rely solely on this information and to do their own independent research of facts contained herein. Blog information was obtained from independent sources that we do not endorse, and we do not investigate this information for accuracy.
