NOTE: I DID CHECK THIS OUT WITH SNOPES, AND IT IS ACCURATE ENOUGH TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY.


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 web site,

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 li ke 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.

thanks! i have checked it out at the shops, it smells heavenly.. didn't buy any..too expensive.
but i do have dogs, and i am now glad i didn't buy any!

Thanks, I'll stay away from that, but I do want to give it a sniff. My dogs already think they would like to be chocoholics.

Thanks for the warning.

Thanks for letting us know!

Thanks for the heads up. Why would they sell something like that.

Thank you for the warning. Guess it's a good thing that I somewhat neglect my yard!

Thanks for the warning.
I'll pass it on.

Thank you for letting us know. We have an indoor cat but a lot of cats in the neighborhood come into our yard. I would never want to hurt one of them.

I will let my daughter know as well as all my friends. My daughter has a Siberian Husky who is also very much of the family.

Thanks for the warning!!