Alert- product toxic to pets

Someone just emailed this to me, beware!

Cocoa Mulch lethal to dogs?

Verified by Snopes

VERIFIED ALSO BY GOOGLE

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(can be found at home
depot) 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. Halfway
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.

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
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
"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.

Theobromine 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 presence of lethal amounts of
theobromine.

Please email the manufacturer at
michellemessick@hersheys.comand request that
accurate information about this product be posted on
the packaging to avoid further tragedy.

PLEASE GIVE THIS WIDEST DISTRIBUTION !!!