Landscaping- Beware of what you use

Spring is here and that means it’s time to start clearing our gardens of leaves and other matter that has accumulated over the winter months. In a lot of cases, it also means time to do some landscaping.

If you’ve decided to use mulch as part of your landscaping plans, for the sake and safety of your pet and other pets around, DO NOT use Brown or Cocoa Mulch. 

Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot and other garden supply stores, contains a lethal ingredient called “theobromine”. This is lethal to dogs and cats. Cocoa Mulch smells like chocolate and is very enticing to dogs and cats.  They may ingest the mulch and, if not treated immediately, they can die.

Theobromine is the ingredient used to make all chocolate, especially dark or Bakers chocolate, and it’s toxic to dogs.  Cocoa bean shells contain toxic quantities of Theobromine and a dog that ingests a quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells can develop severe convulsions or seizures and possibly die.

So, if you are doing your own landscaping, or having a landscaping company do it for you, be sure that any mulch used is not Cocoa Mulch and does not contain any ingredients such as Theobromine or cocoa bean shells.

Happy gardening, but keep it safe for all pets.