Gardening ping
From the article:
True information about the mulch can be found here - Snopes.com: Cocoa Mulch. 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.
Carolyn
Theobromine is the active principle in chocolate. It is very similar structurally to caffeine, and has similar, though milder, effects on humans. I would expect that using cocoa mulch would be similar to spreading chocolate around your yard, as far as dogs go. Most dogs will eat chocolate and get sicker than, well, dogs on it. Death is an uncommon but hardly unknown side effect.
Thanks for the tip. I know you should never give chocolate to a dog but never considered Cocoa mulch a hazard...
Thanks for this post! Our 10 week old rottie has been digging in our new mulch lately.
Thanks for posting this info!!!
Labs will eat ANYTHING. A couple of years ago, I was in a vet hospital waiting room, and a lady sitting next to me was there with a Lab. It had eaten its nylon leash. In three bites. One bite had passed through on its own, another bite had been fished out the dog’s back end a couple of days earlier by a vet using some sort of “fishing” tool, but the third bite was firmly stuck way up in the intestinal tract and was going to have to be removed via major abdominal surgery.