"ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center Issues Cocoa Bean Fertilizer Warning

Friday, March 14, 2003

Organic mulch fertilizer may pose hazard to dogs

Contacts: Deborah Sindell
(212)-876-7700 ext. 4658

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


(URBANA, IL) March 13, 2003 -- As spring approaches, people will start to
tend their lawns and gardens. Many will consider using cocoa bean mulch as a
fertilizer. Made from spent cocoa beans used in chocolate production, cocoa
bean mulch is organic, deters slugs and snails, and gives a garden an
appealing chocolate smell. However, it also attracts dogs, who can easily be
poisoned by eating the mulch.

Cocoa beans contain the stimulants caffeine and theobromine. Dogs are highly
sensitive to these chemicals, called methylxanthines. In dogs, low doses of
methylxanthine can cause mild gastrointestinal upset (vomiting, diarrhea,
and/or abdominal pain); higher doses can cause rapid heart rate, muscle
tremors, seizures, and death.

Eaten by a 50-pound dog, about 2 ounces of cocoa bean mulch may cause
gastrointestinal upset; about 4.5 ounces, increased heart rate; about 5.3
ounces, seizures; and over 9 ounces, death. (In contrast, a 50-pound dog can
eat up to about 7.5 ounces of milk chocolate without gastrointestinal upset
and up to about a pound of milk chocolate without increased heart rate.)

If you suspect that your dog has eaten cocoa bean mulch, immediately contact
your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
(1-888-426-4435). Treatment will depend on how much cocoa bean mulch your
dog has eaten, when the mulch was eaten, and whether your dog is sick.
Recommended care may include placing your dog under veterinary observation,
inducing vomiting, and/or controlling a rapid heart beat or seizures."