I found out last night that my mom's doggie, Cappuccino (a.k.a. Chino), died over the weekend. He was the friendliest, happy-go-lucky dog in the world! Whenever he saw us, his tail would wag so much, my mom would always joke that it was going to fly off!

I still remember the day my mom found him. He was just a little puppy at the time, and since I name all my pets after food, we decided he was a beautiful cappuccino color and that would be an appropriate name since my mom is also a caffeine-addict! (As he got older, his coat got lighter, but by then we had shortened his name to Chino because it was easier for my mom to say!)

Chino was only 7 years old and was perfectly healthy (though a bit pudgy). Then all of a sudden, about a month ago, he stopped eating, which is very unlike him! My mom took him to the vet and they gave him different medicines over the course of several weeks and finally determined (too late) that he was poisoned by toxic fertilizer! The vet said the fact that Chino stayed alive for so long was a miracle. We all believe that it's because my mom's other doggie, Nina, kept him company and strengthened his will to live, but it was a losing battle.

My mom gave Chino a proper burial and also went to pray for him at the temple near my old apartment. The monk told her that Chino was a good dog with a big heart, so he would reincarnate as a human in the next life. This helped my mom to feel better, and she told me last night that she was finally at peace. I wanted to be strong for her, but after we hung up, I cried.

My tears were both from sadness and anger. Our happy dog was stolen from our family by some idiot that used toxic fertilizer! This is one of the reasons why I started my business. Too many people unknowingly use toxic chemical cleaners and fertilizers for their homes, but there are safe and economical alternatives out there! 

Corporate giants encourage you to use these chemical cleaners to mop your floors, spray baby’s high chair, and wipe your counters before kids put food on them. What they don’t realize is that these chemicals are toxic and can cause serious damage to developing children’s brain functions, headaches, respiratory problems, and more. How come people are not aware of this? Because companies are not required to list the chemicals that cause chronic toxicity, but only those that will blow up or are poisonous when swallowed.

Isn’t that scary? Kids and pets are most affected by these dangerous cleaners and chemicals because they tend to practically live on the floor and tend to put things in their mouths. If we all switched to safe, natural products and educated those around us, we could stomp out this problem. 

I’ve done a lot of research on this topic, so if you need help, please let me know! I don't want anyone to have to go through what my family experienced with Chino!