the Dalaverse

araestel shared this bit of news and I felt strongly enough to repost it.

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 company's website, 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.' The 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 the eobromine, 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.

Rather appalling that this stuff still seems to be on the market, as the email started circulating in 2003. I'm sure it is indeed rare for a pet to eat it, but who the hell wants to be responsible for that 2%? My cat Snake used to eat Lucky Charms marshmallows, I bet he would've gone for chocolate mulch. (Though I have to say also, why? Chocolate mulch seems even more ridonkulous than chocoalte body spray. I realize mulch doesn't smell so sweet on its own, but isn't the point of it to help grow things? And don't growing things smell good all on their own? ::shakes head:: Some people have too much time on their hands...)

In other horrifying news, I just read Carolyn Jessop's memoir Escape, about her life in the FLDS and her escape with all eight of her children, and it is horrifying. The part that made me cry was their first Christmas in the outside world, when a friend of hers dressed up as Santa and brought a sack of gifts. These kids had never, ever celebrated Christmas or birthdays or anything - didn't even know what to ask for. Santa said something like, "Here you are! I've been looking for you all these years, so I brought extra presents to make up for it!" I wish some friendly cellmate would shiv Warren Jeffs in the middle of the night, and I am not even being facetious.