Death by Chocolate

You don't usually think of mulch as being potentially harmful to your pets - after all, it's not like you're spreading chemical fertilizer all over your garden, how dangerous could it be?

Well if you're using cocoa mulch, it could be lethal to your pets. The "cocoa" bit should be a dead giveaway with more people becoming aware that chocolate (milk and dark chocolate particularly) is poisonous to pets.

What we're dealing with here is Theobromine, a xanthine compound found in cocoa bean shells that has a similar effect to caffeine (in fact, it's a by-product of the body's metabolism of caffeine). It's one of the things that makes chocolate such a great comfort food - but unfortunately also the key reason chocolate (and cocoa mulch) is so dangerous for your pet if ingested.

To give you an idea of how it impacts an animal, theobromine is - according to Wikipedia - used in modern medicine as a vasodilator (a blood vessel widener), a diuretic (urination aid), and heart stimulant.

The problem for animals - particularly dogs, who are more likely to eat chocolate (or that yummy-smelling cocoa mulch all over your garden) than cats - is that they metabolize theobromine way more slowly than humans. In fact, an animal can succumb to theobromine poisoning from as little as 50 grams of chocolate for a smaller dog and 400 grams for an average-sized dog.

Wikipedia lists complications including "digestive issues, dehydration, excitability, and a slow heart rate. Later stages of theobromine poisoning include epileptic-like seizures and death. If caught early on, theobromine poisoning is treatable but ,while rare, fatalities can and do occur.

So do your research - natural doesn't always mean safe. It's true that most dogs won't go on a cocoa mulch binge, but do you really want to take that chance for the sake of a lovely garden?

Resources and references:

• http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp - confirmation that cocoa mulch is, indeed, dangerous to pets. Includes some useful fact-checking research.


• http://www.growingwisdom.com/index.aspx?pid=7&sid=1 - some videos about safe organic composting and selecting safe mulch.


• http://www.petplace.com/dogs/cocoa-mulch-toxicity/page1.aspx - article on cocoa mulch toxicity with tips for treatment and prevention.


• http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/gr_general_info/article/0,2029,DIY_13847_4615714,00.html - DIY network article on pet friendly gardening and landscaping.

Change a Pet's Life Day - 10 Free Adoptions at SPCA of Texas (Dallas) tomorrow!

Tomorrow, January 24th, Hill’s Science Diet will partner with the SPCA of Texas for Change a Pet’s Life Day, a national free adoption drive to help transform the lives of shelter cats and dogs by giving them a second chance for love.

Hill’s Science Diet will cover the adoption fees for the first 10 pet adoptions at the SPCA of Texas' Dealey Animal Care Center in Dallas on Saturday, January 24th beginning at noon.

Visit http://www.spca.org for more information!

January 20th - Dallas Animal Services Pet of the Week

Meet Tuesday - this beautiful 8 year old Tortoiseshell sweetie is this week's Dallas Animal Services Pet of the Week! Are you willing to inaugurate her as your newest family member?

Drop into the DAS state-of-the-art shelter to meet Tuesday, or check out the DAS website to see all the other pets they have available for adoption.

A personal post from UrbanCritter

I've been posting to this blog for a while now but generally on specific issues or topics. Today I thought I'd share something a little more personal - I rescued Toto, a beautiful domestic long-haired cat, from an industrial area in Sydney Australia when he was barely 6 weeks old. He was just a little scrap of mite-infested fur and bones, with a huge purr. Fourteen years later and half a world away, we're still together and he's now 17 pounds of Best Friend - I can't imagine why anyone would have dumped him but I am so grateful he found me!

Here's Toto taking a walk on the leash today - proving that you can not only train a cat to walk on leash, but you can teach an old cat new tricks (he transitioned without a hitch from being an indoor-outdoor cat to indoor only when we moved to the US six years ago, and he started walking on the leash about a year ago)! Hope you enjoy this little glimpse of Toto!

Sports Illustrated talks about the Michael Vick Pit Bulls

In a touching and redemptive article, Sports Illustrated covers the Michael Vick Pit Bulls, helping to address the breed's image problem. The magazine has come a long way since 1987 when they sensationally exhorted the public to BEWARE OF THIS DOG.

• Read the full article online: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1150095/index.htm
• Link to this month's cover: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/11038/index.htm
• The Infamous 1987 cover: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/9073/index.htm

It's well worth the read.

Kudos to Anti-Petland Demonstrators!

A HUGE thanks to all those who got out yesterday in support of the HSUS campaign to get Petland to stop supporting puppy mills! Here are some of the everyday heros who protested at the Petland store in Plano, TX.

Couldn't make it? Click here and sign the petition - let's try and get to 100,000 signatures by February 1. Petland and the puppy mills it supports are making it harder for sweet dogs like this week's DAS pet of the week, Eclipse, to find homes - help save Eclipse and the puppy mill dogs!

Thanks to Pamela Burch for the photos and for being there!

Dallas Animal Services Pet of The Week

Petition Petland to Stop Selling Puppy Mill Dogs!

Today across the nation, passionate animal lovers demonstrated at their local Petland pet stores, against the retailer's continued sale of puppy mill inventory. The Humane Society of the US conducted an 8 month long investigation of Petland, which is currently the nation’s largest retail supporter of puppy mills.

YOU can do something about this too! Here are five simple things you can do to make a difference - help stop this extensive abuse and exploitation of dogs that takes advantage of people's love for cute animals:

1. Visit http://stoppuppymills.org/ to watch the HSUS video of the Petland investigation, and pledge your support to help end this cycle of cruelty.
2. Vote with your wallet! Never buy a pet from a pet store or Internet site, instead consider saving a life by adopting from your local shelter. Also, refuse to buy supplies from any pet store or Internet site that sells puppies - these commercial enterprises only understand one thing: the power of the almighty dollar - so hurt them where it counts by witholding your business.
3. Sign this petition to show Petland how many people are passionate about them pulling out of the puppy mill business.
4. If you're on Facebook, join the cause to stop puppy mills, and add the cause to your profile page.
5. Educate your friends and family about puppy mills and encourage them to adopt a shelter or breed-rescue animal instead of buying from a pet store or internet site.

Everybody can do something - please do your bit for the puppies!

Where does that puppy in the window come from?

Most pet store puppies come from puppy mills, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

Do you know what a puppy mill is? They are massive for-profit commercial dog-breeding operations that house dogs in shockingly poor conditions. Many adult breeding dogs live their entire lives in cages and are continually bred for years, without human companionship, receiving little or no vet care, and never knowing a bed, a treat, or a toy. The puppies are raised in cages and then shipped by the hundreds across the country to be sold in pet shops. The over breeding, inadequate care and socialization, and crowded conditions result in hundreds of thousands of puppies being born each year, many with behavior and/or health problems that often end up costing the new owners staggering amounts of time and money.

So what can be done? Animal welfare organizations here and across the nation are supporting legislative changes, conducting investigations, and developing public awareness and education campaigns. You can do your part by choosing not to buy your next pet from a pet store or Internet site, and by refusing to buy pet supplies from any pet store that sells puppies. Adopting a dog instead of buying one is the surest way to strike a blow against puppy mills. Animal shelters have dozens of dogs, many of them purebreds, just waiting for homes. Adopt. Don’t buy.

For more information on the connection between puppy mills and pet stores, visit http://www.hsus.org/. For a list of animal shelters and breed rescue groups in our area, visit http://urbananimal.us/.

Companions For Life
P.O. Box 794073

Dallas, Texas 75379
www.companionsforlife.org

A lesson in how to get along

This year, let's all learn from the critters and try to all get along in spite of our differences... Happy 2009, everybody! Here's hoping it's Humane!