Forbidden Fruit

The neighborhood squirrels have been dropping a lot of avocados into the yard lately, to Arthur's great delight. It's like little presents falling from the sky – tasty, tasty presents. However, I just read in the newish dog-related e-newsletter, The Wuffington Wag, that avocados contain a toxin called persin that can make animals sick (especially birds) and should be avoided.

Um, hello? Why am I only hearing about this now? It would be like learning that coffee is bad for you and you shouldn't drink a dozen cups every single day. Ha HA! Thank god THAT'S not true! Anyway, so now avocados are evil and that means no more free snacks for Arthur. I found a small one in the yard today (that he'd already nibbled on) and put it on the deck railing where he couldn't reach it, and boy! was he mad. He whined at me for a good fifteen minutes before I just threw the thing in the garbage.

Arthur cares not for technicalities. He just wants him some of that sweet green meat.

Here's a Canadian grad student's explanation of persin on the blog Drugs and Poisons.