This checks out as true on snopes, so I thought I'd pass it along, even though it looks as though it's been making the rounds since 2003, I've never seen it before:
Subject: Attention Dog and Cat Lovers
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
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoa.htm
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