Some of you may read this and think to yourselves, well, "DUH!", but I wanted to post it just in case. If I didn't have dogs, I would think this was a great product from a company dedicated to using its waste from one product to create another product. However the lack of warning on the potential dangers to pets is very disconcerting.
WARNING - DO NOT USE COCOA MULCH IF YOU OWN PETS!!
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 company's website, 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."
Information about the mulch can be found here -
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoa.htmThis 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 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.
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
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 email the manufacturer at michellemessic
k@ hersheys. com and request that
accurate information about this product be posted on the packaging to avoid further
tragedy.
PLEASE GIVE THIS THE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION !!!
