We’ve all known a pooch or two who find it hard to resist eating anything and everything in sight. But sometimes doing so can be seriously dangerous. And two greedy Cockapoos in Scotland had to learn this the hard way.
Jarvis and Dodger stole a tub of dark chocolate from their home in the village of Houston, Glasgow Times reports. Originally, the chocolate was meant for Valentine’s Day. Dark chocolate is highly toxic to dogs, as it contains the chemical theobromine. Milk chocolate is toxic too. However, dark chocolate contains a much higher concentration of the chemical than milk, so it’s toxic in much smaller amounts.
Valentine’s Day at the Vet
Dog mom Lesley Kelly soon realized what her pups had done. She took them to Vets Now in Glasgow for emergency treatment. “The pair of them sleep in the utility room and there was a glass jar of chocolate buttons out of reach up on the worktop,” she said. “But it was sitting on my husband’s newspaper and Jarvis must have got up, pulled the paper and the jar fell to the floor.”
“I came straight down when I heard it smash and, although they luckily hadn’t cut their paws on the broken glass, I could see they’d been helping themselves to the chocolate.”
“Jarvis was just a tiny pup, and we were really concerned.”
Raising Awareness
Lesley is raising awareness of the dangers of chocolate, especially around occasions like Valentine’s Day and Christmas. And, she’s urging pet parents to keep presents with chocolate in them away from their furry friends. Why not do something else for your pet this Valentine’s Day instead?
“It was really scary, and we’d definitely urge people to be extra careful with any chocolate,” she continued. “Dodger was a bit sorry for himself, but Jarvis was jumping up and down and looking as if nothing had happened.”
“I didn’t know who had eaten what, but it was quite a big jar and they’d probably shared about 200g of chocolate.
“If I hadn’t heard it could have been twice that, but it was 70% cocoa and I knew that was bad and we needed help right away.”
