The following was e‑mailed to me today by an anonymous source. I’ve vetted the information for myself and believe it to be true and pertinent to animal owners. The fact that chocolate is poisonous to dogs and cats is public knowledge, and numerous independent sources echo the information below. Note that the quote attributed to Hersheys.com cannot be verified because, as of the date of this writing, all references to the HERSHEY’S Cocoa Mulch product have been removed Hersheys.com, TheHersheyCompany.com, and the company’s press release archive. However, the Hersheys.com internal seach engine reveals that, until recently, it did in fact host a page describing the HERSHEY’S Cocoa Mulch product.
Note that the below message includes non-specific time references such as “over the weekend” and “in the last 2–3 weeks”. The exact dates referenced are unknown. Independent research, however, reveals incidents of animal injury and death resulting from ingestion of the HERSHEY’S Cocoa Mulch product and similar products from other vendors as early as 1998 and as recently as July 2007.
The Hershey Company was not able to be reached for comment before press time.
It is unknown at this time how many bags of HERSHEY’S Cocoa Mulch have been sold and used. It also isn’t currently known if the Hershey’s Company recalled unsold units or continues to sell them, or how many competitive products remain on the market. Given the fact that the product was widely distributed by major retail chains that include Target Stores and The Home Depot stores, the risk to canids and/or felines of encountering and ingesting the potentially poisonous mulch in lawns, gardens, parks, and playgrounds throughout North America is almost certainly substantial.
Please be careful to monitor your pets, and to be very wary of allowing them near mulch beds. Please also help spread awareness and avoid further tragedy by passing around the below information.
Don’t know how many of you garden, but I got this from another friend and throught I would pass it on. What with gardening season starting out, this is good infor to have.
Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don’t have a pet, please pass this to those who do. 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.’
This Snopes 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. Theobromine 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 shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.