Thought I would pass this on.

http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=124404

PET OWNERS - - COCOA MULCH WARNING!!

 Posted By: Seawitch
 Date: Wednesday, 14 May 2008, 12:41 a.m.
 Subject: Pet Owners - Cocoa Mulch Warning

Attention: All pet owners, If you don't have dog or cat pets, please
forward this to those folks on your mailing list who do.

Read this carefully. It could save a dog's life.

WARNING - DO NOT USE COCOA MULCH IF YOU OWN PETS - DON'T USE THAT COCOA
MULCH!

Verified by Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp

VERIFIED ALSO BY GOOGLE

Yesterday one of our dog agility friends experienced a tragedy and
wanted me to pass a special message along to all of my dog loving
friends and family. Please tell every dog owner you know.

Over the weekend 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 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."

True information about the mulch can be found here -
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoa.html

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 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 michellemessick@... and request that
accurate information about this product be posted on the packaging to
avoid further tragedy.

PLEASE GIVE THIS THE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION!!!

Amy Beichler
Executive Director, Public Animal Welfare Society, (PAWS)
A Nonprofit Humane Society Serving the Animals & People of Greater
Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Since 1976

[Posted in FML 5976]