[PAA-Discuss] Danger to Dogs

[June Bennett Larsen]

I received the following message from a friend in New York City and
thought I should pass it on.

June

DANGER TO DOGS

  PLEASE send this to everyone you know --- even if they don't have pets
and ask them to send it on to everyone they know. The original sender
received this from a friend in Pittsburgh who received it from a vet.
Yesterday, one of our clients experienced a tragedy and wanted me to
pass a special message along to all of my dog-loving friends and family.
I was hoping you could forward this to your contact list.

My client was the doting owner of two young lab/golden retriever mixes.
Overthe weekend, they 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. They set the bag in their yard.

Their dog, Calypso, decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat so
she broke into it and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times
which was typical of her when she would get into something she shouldn't
have gotten in to. She was not 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, 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
<http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoa.htm>

(You can also check with www.truthorfiction.com
<http://www.truthorfiction.com> <http://www.truthorfiction.com> )

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 attracts
some 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 cocoa bean shells
developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the
stomach contents and the ingested cocoa bean shells revealed the
presence of lethal amounts of Theobromine.
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