Sandy Vickrey's Winters, CA Blog

Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don’t have a pet, please pass this to those who do. This article was sent to me by my brother, Stan, a real dog lover.

“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:

“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 like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths 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 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.”

I met a client at my office today who was so distraught when she arrived as she had been to Home Depot in Vacaville and had lost her purse.  She was just sure it was gone.  They had gone back to look for it but it was no where to be found.  As we were meeting a nice gentleman came in to the office wondering if I knew the lady who’s driver’s license he held.  I told him that I did and she was sitting in the back of the office.  She was so relieved!  He had found her purse in the shopping cart outside in the parking lot.  He had taken the time to drive to her house in Winters but when he found no one at home he decided to come to my office.  He had found my card in her wallet.  It was just Divine design that she was in my office when he arrived.  She wanted to give him some kind of reward but he wouldn’t hear of it so I asked him to please write his name and address for her so she could send him a note.  So folks, we all need to “play this one forward” as the saying goes.  I truly believe that when you do something nice for someone, it comes back to you ten fold.  Have a fantastic week and enjoy the fabulous weather.

Click on this link and have some fun!   Bye Bye 2009

Have a safe and happy new year’s celebration!

I got another call from someone who owns property in Winters who needs property management services.  Yes, I do provide that service and I am the only realtor who provides this professional service.  I manage over 30 properties.   If you know someone who only wants me to find them a renter, I will do that too.  If you have any property management questions, please feel free to call me at 530-681-8939.  Oh yes, if you buy a house from me you get the first tenant free!  Can’t beat that offer!

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It’s Dec 9, 2009  and I am sitting in a meeting waiting for it to start.  James Dwiggins is going to teach us all the new ins and outs of the new Realty World website.  I hear it is awesome.   Looking forward to learning a lot.  Will let you know latter.  www.sandyvickrey.com