A homeowner put out an important PSA for anyone with a dog and a yard that they use mulch in. Pay attention, because this could save your pet’s life.
As the weather starts to get warmer, homeowners will undoubtedly be planning to wake their yards up for spring. This involves pruning, planting, and mulching, among many other tasks.
But before making any decisions, home and pet owners would be wise to watch this PSA from Alabama-based mom, Amanda (@smalltownalabamagirl). Amanda recently uploaded a TikTok video in which she explained how her decision to put mulch around her home almost resulted in the passing of her beloved dog.
She explains that last year, she woke up one morning and noticed her dog was acting unusually lethargic. This worried her so she had her husband take the dog to the vet.
Why was her dog sick?
After examining the dog, the vet informed Amanda that there was a mass in the dog’s stomach. But several tests and x-rays later, they still did not know what the mass was and why it was making the dog sick.
Amanda says the vet had to do an expensive exploratory surgery on her dog which revealed some surprising contents in the pet’s stomach.
“[The vet] called me and he said, ‘Where could your dog have gotten pieces of plastic, pieces of metal, twine … in his stomach?’” she says, adding that the debris the vet retrieved from the stomach was enough to fill a sandwich bag.
Amanda and her husband then searched the backyard to try and find what the dog had been eating.
“We couldn’t find anything in the yard, so we started messing around in the mulch. Well, guess what? We started finding all kinds of pieces of plastic, metal, just in the mulch we had put down,” she says.
Amanda also notes that this year, she decided to check the mulch before putting it down in her yard. She claims to have again found several pieces of plastic, twine, and metal, all of which which she shows the camera. The woman also specifies that she was using Lowe’s in-house brand this year, and the previous year had been Cowart.
“Please, when you put mulch down this year, make sure you don’t have parts and pieces in there that could potentially cost you your dog’s life or a very very expensive vet bill,” she says at the end of her video.
What is in your gardening mulch?
Using mulch in gardens provides many benefits. Mulch can help reduce weeds, retain moisture, prevent soil erosion, and much more. It also comes in several types, with each providing its own specific benefits.
However, no matter what type of mulch you are using, its effectiveness is dependent on the quality of the materials that it is made from. Mulch that is made from tree branches and trimmings contain bits of leaves, bark, and wood, which all combine to create a healthy bed for plantlike.
However, mulch that is made from “wood recovered from construction and demolition debris can contain pressure-treated lumber.” This type of mulch can have contaminants from treated woods, as well as debris like pieces of plastic and metal like the kinds Amanda found.
‘Better for the soil and looks prettier’
Amanda received 89,000 views on her video with several TikTok users offering her suggestions for alternatives to bagged mulch.
“I stopped using mulch and starting using ground cover plants, better for the soil and looks prettier,” one user said.
“Always buy fresh mulch from landscape companies,” another suggested.
“We do rock. One time cost. No worries about fire etc,” someone else wrote.
One person simply said, “I don’t mulch.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Amanda via Instagram direct message for further updates.
@smalltownalabamagirl Learn from my life and save yourself money and possibly heartache. #mulch #summertime #yardwork #dog #dogs #dogsoftiktok #vet #vetbills #sickdog ♬ original sound – Amanda | SmallTownAlabamaGirl
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