Cocoa mulch kills dogs and cats

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 CocoaMulch from Target to use in their garden. They loved the way it smelled andit was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog Calypsodecided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a largehelping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats somethingnew 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 aseizure 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 dogsand cats. Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that 'It is truethat studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can sufferphysical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog).However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it.' Fact Checker site gives the following information: Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply andother Garden supply stores, contains a lethal ingredient called"Theobromine". It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate andit 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 beanshells contain potentially toxic quantities of th eobromine, a xanthinecompound 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 thestomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.