Subject: FW: IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR DOG OWNERS!!!!





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 companies web site, 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."



True information about the mulch can be found here -

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoa.htm 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 "Theo

bromine".



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.



Theo bromine 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@hersheys.com and
request
that accurate information about this product be posted on the packaging
to
avoid further tragedy.



PLEASE GIVE THIS WIDEST DISTRIBUTION