cocoa mulch hazardous?

PanchoHambre

PanchoHambre

New member
got the following email from a co worker. Never even seen the stuff myself. Anyone know anything about this?

Please share this with all the pet owners you know and ask them to do
the same - the information you take a few minutes to share might prevent
the senseless loss of other pets.




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
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&...=127e3c9758d6a177&attid=0.0.1&disp=emb&zwwalk,

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 like
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.
 
I've seen the stuff before, and my DIL uses it at her house. I'd never heard that it was toxic to pets.

I think I speak for all pet owners when I say thanks for posting Pancho!:tiphat:
 
Here's the report from Truth or Fiction

(my spell checker is really upset with the word theobromine. Wants to replace it with theoretician or theologian!) :yum:

Cocoa Mulch Contains an Ingredient Harmful to Pets-Truth!​


Summary of the eRumor:
There are several versions of this eRumor but all of them say that commonly sold cocoa mulch contains theobromine which can be lethal to cats and dogs. One version tells the story of a pet owner who lost a dog because of cocoa mulch.
The Truth:
It's fairly well known that some animals should not eat chocolate and according to the experts we checked with that warning applies to cocoa mulch as well, although the number of reported animal deaths is very low. The villain is theobromine, a chemical that is similar to caffeine. It can give a boost to humans but dogs and cats cannot always metabolize it successfully and it can be lethal to them. That is especially true of the shells of the cacao beans, which are ground up and used in cocoa mulch, and contain even higher levels of theobromine than the bean.

Most packaging of cocoa mulch makes it clear that it's not for human or animal consumption. It also appears that all cocoa mulch is not the same. One manufacturer we checked with, the maker of Mirana cocoa mulch, said that their mulch is the result of a series of processing steps and that the level of theobromine in their mulch is barely detectable.

We did find at least one documented case reported in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).. The report says that a dog that had ingested cocoa mulch developed convulsions and died 17-hours later. An analysis of the stomach showed ingested cacao bean shells and lethal levels of theobromine.

The AVMA has issued a release because of this new eRumor about cocoa mulch. It says that according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), there have not been any reports in 2006 of animals dying from cocoa mulch ingestion. In the years spanning 2004 and 2005 there were 16 cases of cocoa mulch ingestion reported, none of which resulted in death.

The ASPCA says that the account of the death of the dog named Calypso that is in the eRumor is "suspect." The symptoms are not completely consistent with death from cocoa bean ingestion. The ASPCA says that although vomiting is a common result, the dog is described as having had a single seizure the next day during a walk and then dying suddenly, which is not what would be expected.

 Updated 5/25/06
 
That's good to hear, Jim. I would suspect that small dogs might be at risk, but it sounds like larger breeds probably wouldn't die. I have used this mulch before and had no idea that it was made with real cocoa beans.

As a side note, I know that chocolate is bad for dogs and have never actually given my dogs chocolate. However, they have stolen chocolate before and it has never made them sick. Has anyone else had their dog steal some chocolate?
 
my first thought was, "if it tastes like chocolate, hell ya, it's hazardous! i'd be out grazin' on the mulch with a quart of cold milk every night. i can see many men doing this, even the one's that live alongside highways, and then you know what'll happen.

more roadkill.
 
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