We received an email from Consuelo in January 2009 with the following information:

Penalties for Abandoning Dogs in the State of Texas:
It is a "Class A Misdemeanor with up to $4,000 fine and/or year in jail."

Why don't we put signs up everywhere with the above info on them?!

Please click here to visit www.ReadLarryPowell.com where Larry
did a fund-raiser on his website for Big Pup Duncan's hip surgeries, which cost $1,200 per hip.
Larry raised $1,470 for the first hip, and Duncan has completely recovered from his February 2009 hip surgery.
Later the vet determined that Duncan fortunately didn't have to have the second hip surgery, and he's doing fine.

 

Click here to see a news story on a "Tax Breaks for Pet Owners" bill in Congress.

 

WARNING ABOUT COCOA MULCH:

Don't let dogs and cats eat it!

Please share this with all the pet owners you know and ask them to do the same - the information you take a few minutes to share might prevent the senseless loss of other pets.

 

Please  tell  every dog or cat owner you know. Even if  you don't have a pet,  please pass this to those  who do.
Over the weekend,   the doting owner of two young lab mixes  purchased Cocoa Mulch  from Target to  use in their garden. The dogs loved the way   it smelled and it was advertised to  keep cats away from  their garden. Their dog (Calypso) decided 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 company's web site, this product is HIGHLY toxic to  dogs  and cats.

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."

Snopes site gives  the following  information:http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp: 

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 li ke chocolate, and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths have already occurred in the last  2-3 weeks.

Theobromine is in 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 who 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  PASS  THIS ON**