Annual Spring Warning about Coca Mulch
Quick FYI:
Given it’s spring and many are gardening on the east coast,I thought I would send out this warning tidbit that can be long forgotten during winter. Recently apparently more than one dog has either died or had serious complications due to ingestion of Coca mulch. Avoid using it if you garden and have pets.
Snf
Bags of coca mulch have 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, 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. '
This 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.
Given it’s spring and many are gardening on the east coast,I thought I would send out this warning tidbit that can be long forgotten during winter. Recently apparently more than one dog has either died or had serious complications due to ingestion of Coca mulch. Avoid using it if you garden and have pets.
Snf
Bags of coca mulch have 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, 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. '
This 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.
Comments
When Reilly was a puppy we had cocoa mulched a small garden, and she sure did want to eat it. She ate some and puked it up and we had to de-mulchlfy and never cocoa'ed again. I liked the smell, but I love my dogs even better than chocolate!