I am cross-posting this from another forum as requested by the original poster.
this has been posted on other forums because the author wanted the info widely distributed.

This message came to us from Ali Taylor, Head of Welfare, Battersea DH.

Quote:
Yesterday one of our dog agility friends experienced a tragedy and wanted me to pass a special message along to all of my dog loving friends and family. Please tell every dog owner you know.

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, Mum 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."


Also included was the following information -

Quote:
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.

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.


PLEASE GIVE THIS THE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION!!!

 can you believe it dogs with two noses

They are mother and son the first one is the mum

has any one had trouble getting on to this site this is the first time all week that i have been able to really get any were on here it kept crashing and going to the error page has any one else had this or is it just me ? i still am having trouble uploading photos  it just keep saying error

We are all really excited here because in june around the 10th we are getting a new friend to come live with us her name is dolly thats what her old mummy called her   she will be 2 years old in october  and she is a bichon we are all so excited we will put up some photos of her when we get some

PicJazz.com

we have had great fun today playing in the garden we waited for mum to be busy the dug up the plants in the pots ho my we were in a right state with peat all over us but that meant we had to have a bath now i don't know about you but that getting wet bit we could do without then we have to have the hair dryer mum Say's it makes us fluffy we all like the brushing bit though Tia is not to good at staying still she just wants to eat the comb ho well it was worth it we had a grate time mum was not to pleased though woof woof

PicJazz.com