Urgent: Cocoa Mulch Deadly To Pets!

[Diane4145]

I rec'd this from a pet lover friend, like myself. My heart really goes out, to the owner. If that happened to my little Yorkie, Twinky, I'd be done! Please pass this along!

DEADLY TO PETS!

MULCH IS TOXIC TO DOGS! GOLDEN RETREIVER DROPS DEAD AFTER INGESTING IT- MANUFACTURER ADMITS IT'S TOXIC! SOLD IN HOME DEPOT- TARGET-GARDEN SUPPLY STORES -ETC-
GET THE WORD OUT!


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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. Over the 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 website, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs. Denise
(Calypso's mom) wanted me to pass this information along so no one had to experience the same tragedy she went through.

In Loving Memory of Calypso.
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

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Critter Country (Cocoa Beached)

Word of caution on reddish colored mulches: Tho' they look pretty they contain arsenic. Best not to use any red mulches for ALL animals' sakes. It comes from pressure treated wood chips, and pressure treated wood is treated with arsenic!

 

[Allifunn]

it seems ridiculous to me that companies would sell a product for your yard, where at least 60% of the population own dogs, and the product would be toxic to dogs...where do these dogs spend most of their time??? IN THE YARD!!! They should have a BIG warning sign on the bag...but then, no one would buy it!

 

[audie]

i wonder if the big-wigs at these companies use their toxic mulch at their multimillion dollar mansions, or if they use pet-safe mulch ?

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[Diane4145]

I wonder who'll be taking the big $ hit, for the death of the pet? :clap_1: Target, or the Hershey's Company, which manufactures the mulch? Someone, needs to! Hmm... Maybe both!

 

[Jdarg]

Since this report was from 2003 and there are no recent updates, do you think this mulch is still being sold at these stores?? I did a quick google and could find nothing recent?? Hopefully the cocoa mulch is a nonissue now. I can't think of any cases that we have seen at our vet clinic in the last 4 or 5 years, other than dogs getting sick from eating too MUCH mulch of any kind.