Posted by Cathy
on June 9, 2009, 10:49 am
Subject: WARNING! Please inform every dog or cat owner. This is serious!
**PLEASE POST - FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION!**
*Snopes site gives the following information:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp
June 4, 2009
PRODUCT PHOTO ATTACHED.
Serious stuff..already knew of the chocolate danger, but this is another
thing to be concerned about.
WARNING! Please inform every dog or cat owner. This is serious!
Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don't have a
pet, please pass this to those who do.
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 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."
*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 PASS THIS ON**
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