Rescue Dog Dies After Eating Cupcake Made With Sugar Substitute: Pup’s Death Prompts Citywide Warning

Benny was a 2-year-old rescue dog and the apple of his owner’s eye, but he has passed after a tragic accident. This is an accident that could actually happen to any dog owner. The schnauzer-terrier mix had gone through his owner’s compost pile and found a cupcake that was left over from his owner’s birthday. Zac Bowling and his fiancee were alarmed when shortly after Benny ate the cupcake, he fell ill.

Zac called his mother, who had made the cupcakes for her son’s birthday, and he asked her what ingredients she used. Zach rushed Benny to a veterinarian, but it was too late. The cupcake that Benny ingested was made with the popular sugar substitute, xylitol. This can be a deadly substance for dogs.

According to the Daily Mail, “when a dog eats something that contains xylitol, it gets absorbed more quickly into the bloodstream and can result in a potent release of insulin. This rapid spike can be fatal.” In Benny’s case, it was. After the dog had eaten the cupcake he started to vomit, then it was all downhill from there.

This tragic accident caught the attention of the town’s government in Alameda, California, which is where Zac, his fiancee, and Benny had recently moved. They issued a citywide warning over the danger of the sugar substitute, xylitol.

https://www.facebook.com/cityofalameda/photos/a.1276912405676872.1073741828.1233057380062375/1664688870232555/?type=3&permPage=1

Zac and his fiancee had opted to move into a home in Alameda, which gave them a bigger yard for Benny to run and play. Up until a few months ago, they had lived in San Francisco. Benny’s heartbroken family took to Facebook to write about this tragic event in the hopes that other dog owners are aware that the sugar substitute can be poison to dogs.

The sugar substitute xylitol is found in many forms. It is sold as a powdered sugar substitute for people to use in their coffee and drinks. It is also used for baking, which is what Zac’s mother had used in her cupcakes. Other products that contain this sugar substitute include, chocolate, mints, gum, baked goods, cough syrup, vitamins, toothpaste, mouthwash and more, which is what the Alameda alert conveyed. A picture of Benny is seen below, which was posted on Zac Bowling’s Instagram page.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSiKQkLlRt5/?taken-by=zbowling

According to Fox News, Dr. Michael Miller, who is a veterinary at Providence Veterinary Hospital & Clinic in Alameda, used the alert to explain that the popular sugar substitute, xylitol, is “extremely toxic to dogs.” He said it can be found in chewing gum, breath mints, peanut butter and nasal sprays.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTqeWVZlFoA/?taken-by=zbowling

Zac wrote about his love for Benny on his Facebook page. He said that Benny “was the best dog ever. Always had something stuck in his mustache. So happy when we came home. So unfair to lose him at 2 years old.”

[Featured Image by Malivan_Iuliia/Shutterstock]