Press Release: Guard Against Ghoulish Goodies: Keep Your Pets Safe From Halloween Hazards

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center Offers Poison Safety Tips For Pet Owners

(Urbana, IL) October 2, 2006 — The arrival of Halloween brings fun parties, trick-or-treaters, and lots of delicious candies. However, some of the same goodies and decorations we humans are fond of can be potentially hazardous to our pets. The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center is offering pet owners some helpful hints to keep their pets healthy and safe during Halloween.

- Halloween treats with chocolate are not appropriate for pets. Depending on the dose ingested, chocolate (baker's, semisweet, milk and dark) can be potentially poisonous to many animals. In general, the less sweet the chocolate, the more toxic it could be. In fact, unsweetened baking chocolate contains almost seven times more theobromine than milk chocolate. Vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, hyperactivity and increased thirst, urination and heart rate can be seen with the ingestion of as little as 1/4 ounce of baking chocolate by a 10-pound dog.

Read the rest of our Halloween Safety Tips...