Alexandria Dog Dies After Consuming Cocoa Mulch

Photo by FLICKR/3952750720/ The Parkside, Alexandria owner oftwo young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. One of the dogs later died from consumption. The photo is for illustrative purposes; the dog pictured here was not the one which died.

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - Over the weekend in Parkside Alexandria, the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden.

The dogs loved the way it smelled and it was  advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog ("Calypso") decided 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, the dog's owner woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk. Half way through the walk, Calypso had a seizure and died instantly.

Although the mulch had no warnings printed on the label,  upon further investigation on the company's Web site, 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."

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, according to press reports.

The obromine 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 shell  revealed the presence of lethal amounts of Theobromine.

Read more about the potential dangers of cocoa mulch to dogs and cats here:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp