Important Dog Alerts & Warnings
These have been found in newspapers, online and through emails and verified as much as possible through Snopes.com and others.
Four Paws pimple ball with bell.
(Item #20227-001, UPC Code 0 4566320227 9)
Cocoa Mulch (Gardening product)
One 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 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 presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.
Please email the manufacturer at michellemessick@hersheys.com and request that accurate information about this product be posted on the packaging to avoid further tragedy.
The Danger of Paper Shredders
I know you've all heard it before - but be careful! If you have a home office paper shredder - TURN IT OFF! They are very dangerous for pets and children. Below is a story that will break your heart. Don't let it happen to your pet! Also, if yours has an easily turned on switch, put it somewhere inaccessible. This happened to a pet, but it could be a child just as easily!
by respected hound person and veterinarian, Elizabeth A Coney, DVM of Kentucky.
She wrote:
Now - for every one of you that has a home paper shredder with an "auto on" feature, I want you to go turn it off and unplug the paper shredder right now. Because night before last I was presented with a paper shredder containing most of the tongue, ripped out by the base, and a very pretty sweet 1 1/2 year old lab cross whose owners euthanized her.
She always watched the paper go into the shredder, she thought it fascinating. The "auto on" feature means the shredder sits there waiting for something to get placed into it. Like an inquisitive tongue.
I told them, "Dogs can do fine without a tongue, they have to learn to drink and eat differently", but the owners didn't want to go there. The look in her eyes said, "I'm sorry, I guess I wasn't supposed to do that, it's all my fault". We all cried.
I cried when I read this, myself. In subsequent posts Beth says she has learned that dogs who have lost more than half their tongues *don't* do as well as she had been taught. According to the veterinary literature it is also possible for animals to be injured other places than tongues - a Basset
lost an ear, a long-haired cat most of the skin on its side, a kitten a foot, etc.