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When this one came out, because I had both a small child and a pet, I got blasted with it. But I quickly checked it out and discovered that it wasn’t true (didn’t stop these emails coming to me, though).

Wet Jet and the danger they cause

Just in case you have pets or small children around.

This is scary…

I recently had a neighbor who had to have their 5-year old German Shepherd dog put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely healthy until a few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see what the cause was. The liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had ingested poison of some kind. The dog is kept inside, and when he’s outside, someone’s with him, so the idea of him getting into something unknown was hard to believe.My neighbor started going through all the items in the house. When he got to the Swiffer Wetjet, he noticed, in very tiny print, a warning which stated may be harmful to small children and animals.” He called the company to ask what the contents of the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find out that antifreeze is one of the ingredients. ( Actually he was told it’s a compound which is one molecule away from antifreeze.) Therefore, just by the dog walking on the floor cleaned with the solution, then licking it’s own paws, it ingested enough of the solution to destroy its liver.

Soon after his dog’s death, his housekeepers’ two cats also died of liver failure. They both used the Swiffer Wetjet for quick cleanups on their floors. Necropsies weren’t done on the cats, so they couldn’t file a lawsuit, but he asked that we spread the word to as many others as possible so that they don t lose their animals. This is equally harmful to babies and small children that play on the floor a lot and put their fingers in their mouths a lot.

PLEASE, EVEN IF YOU DO NOT HAVE BABIES, SMALL CHILDREN OR OWN A PET PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON!

The truth is that, according to the ASPCA Poison Control Center, Swiffer WetJet is safe to use on your floors, even if you have a pet or small child (but keep the bottle of liquid away, you don’t want a small child getting hold of that). One of the ingredients of Swiffer WetJet (propylene glycol n-butyl/propyl ether) sounds something like ethylene glycol, the ingredient in antifreeze that has led to the deaths of so many pets. But it’s not the same thing. So, if you receive this email, please don’t pass it on.

Hoax emails can be dangerous to people, to bank accounts, to organizations, and to companies. Here’s one I got that, since it was forwarded onto me (more than once), people obviously believe. It read, in part,

** TIM HORTON’S SHOCKER **

A man from Arkansas came up to Canada for a visit only to find himself in the hospital after a couple of days. Doctor’s told him that he had suffered of cardiac arrest. He was allergic to Nicotine. The man did not understand why that would of happened as he does not smoke knowing full well he was allergic to Nicotine. He told the doctor that he had not done anything different while he was on vacation other than having Tim Horton’s coffee.

The man then went back to Tim Horton’s and asked what was in their coffee.

Tim Horton’s refuses to divulge that information. After threatening legal action, Tim Horton’s finally admitted…..

*** THERE IS NICOTINE IN TIM HORTON’S COFFEE

Wow, I’ve heard this rumour for years. And I’m so addicted to the stuff, it is not hard to believe it. But it’s not true and to pass on such information is wrong. Tim Hortons has refuted this and the CBC has also checked this out on the show Disclosure. Tim Hortons coffee was analyzed and shown to have absolutely no nicotine. (The other rumour I’ve often heard, that Tim Hortons puts extra caffeine in its coffee was also debunked. In fact, Disclosure’s analysis showed that of coffee analyzed from Tim Hortons, Starbucks, and the Second Cup, Tim Hortons coffee was, on average, the lowest in caffeine.)

So, if you get this email, stop it in its tracks by not forwarding it.

You know it’s Monday and all that email at work has piled up over the weekend. Lots of spam and a few messages with a dozen fwds in the text as they’ve been passed on from person to person. But should you be the one to pass this one on? Chances are the answer is no because most of these emails that ask you to forward them so that someone can get money or so that some wish can come true are actually not true. Sometimes it is simply an annoyance that you keep the message going and going and going. But sometimes it can be dangerous and sometimes it can be damaging to a company, a person, or an organization.

One such email I received recently is about a dying child who wants to receive money from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The names change. I’ve received them about children with different names but mostly Amy Bruce. They vary a little from message to message but one such email is:

Hi, my name is Amy Bruce.

I am 7 years old, and I have severe lung cancer . I also have a large tumor in my brain, from repeated beatings. Doctors say I will die soon if! this isn’t fixed, and my family can’t pay the bills. The Make A Wish Foundation, has agreed to donate 7 cents for every time this message is sent on. For those of you who send this along, I thank you so much, but for those who don’t send it, what goes around comes around. Have a Heart, please send this.

Please, if you are a kind person, send this on.

PLEASE HIT FORWARD BUTTON NOT REPLY BUTTON.

YOUR’S FAITHFULLY,
AMY BRUCE
amy.bruce@[removed]

Nice people receive this email and immediately forward it, thinking they are doing something good. But the truth is that these emails have caused a lot of hardship on the Make-a-Wish Foundation. As the organization says on its website referring to this matter and the many inquiries they receive about these emails, “the time and expense required to respond to these inquiries distracts the Foundation from its efforts on behalf of children with life-threatening medical conditions…”

So next time you receive an email like this, just delete it and refer the sender and all the others who were sent the email, to the Make-A-Wish Chain Letter page (Canadian version here). If you want to help, there are ways to do so. Find out more at the Make-A-Wish Foundation or the Make-A-Wish Foundation Canada.