Yes, Ankeny, Iowa is a suburb of Des Moines. It's like any other town — except for one important distinction. City crews are out spreading garlic salt on the streets.
The garlic salt, which would have ended up in a landfill if it hadn't been donated by Tone Brothers Inc., a local spice producer, apparently works just fine when mixed with regular road salt.
Public Works Administrator Al Olson told the media that the only side-effect is that some public workers say it makes them hungry.
One such employee, who was interviewed by a local news crew, said, "It makes you feel like ordering a steak and a baked potato."
Another worker said his dog started licking the garlic from his pants when he got home.
"We'll take any kind of salt that we can get," said the city's representative.
Iowa town's roads well-seasoned [Chicago Tribune]
Spice company donates garlic salt to road crews [KATU] (Thanks, Abe !)
@unobservant: Wait, hang on... I'm still trying to divide Dogs by Cats...
]]>@TWinter: You make a fair point, and no...beggars can't be choosers.
/lives in West Des Moines
]]>Obviously I have had a couple embarrassing falls in my lifetime and yeah, I'm bitter about it.
]]>@drdom: I'd think that some of those chemical de-icers that people put on their front steps would be more toxic for pets than garlic salt. I use cat litter at home for my steps, since I don't want to track in any kind of chemicals for my cats to lick up off the wood floors. >_<
]]>@HootieMac: I second the +1
]]>/lives in des moines
]]>Schrute Farms approves.
]]>Eating salt off of roads is only harmful because of other stuff on the roads (like oil and antifreeze) and because of impurities that were not removed in processing because it was destined for road usage. Any kid that is eating large quantities of straight garlic probably has other more serious issues than those caused by eating off of roads.
]]>@shepd: and Doug.
]]>Alaska uses very little road salt. They primarily use sand and gravel, and it works just fine. From what I hear, so does Colorado. The side effect of that is gravel chips in paint, but that can be protected against much more easily than rust. (Oh, and windshields, but that isn't as big of a problem as you'd think) South Korea uses dirt. It means there's a thin layer of mud on the roads in wet weather, but the cars don't slide and they don't rust very badly.
]]>you would think the small town christian community would of taken care of that
but you can never be to carefull when it comes to vampires :P
]]>Garlic is not always toxic to dogs or cats. It is even used in some pet foods.
Garlic is only toxic to dogs and cats if it is raw or spoiled.
One of the Dr.'s at our local University Veterinary Medical School gave our dog a garlic based supplement as a flea preventative, and recommended a light amount of garlic powder to help restore our dogs' appetite. He seems to be in pretty good health.
]]>I'll help them, they can have the jar I wasted 4 bucks on. That stuff isn't worthy of being eaten by a repulsive anteater.
Honestly, foul stuff .. real bacon FTW!
]]>@A/S/L-SteveDave loves this guy->★:
I've actually seen my dog eat small metal screws. She is, possibly, one of the billy goats gruff.
]]>@shepd: I think the garlic salt will be the least of the animals concerns if they are eating off the surface of the streets here in Central Iowa...
]]>@runchadrun: I found it much less desirable before it was box stores.
]]>Beat juice: Sponsored by Michael Jackson's Thriller and Blendtec. :-D
]]>The garlic salt on the road is almost too smart. Most companies wouldn't have thought of finding a use for it.
]]>Dang, now I'm hungry for Italian food...
]]>Just hang your bread out the side of your car door and press it against the garlic street. The friction will toast it, and since it's all garlicky: need I say more?
]]>@B: Clearly this is a violation of the Americans With Disabilities act. They didn't choose to be vampires!
]]>@shepd: Dogs/Cats + ANY BULB PLANT = fail. And by fail, I mean the internal organ kind of fail.
]]>@A/S/L-GitEmSteveDave loves->★:
I had a dog like this. Damn thing chewed my bike down to the frame (he was working on the frame when I caught him). Ate the mudflaps off my truck. Once devoured a garbage back full of aluminum cans - that one required a forced "reversal of fortune" as prescribed by the vet.
]]>@SJActress: Grapes as well. Of course, my dog once ate/chewed 8 lightbulbs to tiny shards, and was perfectly fine.
]]>>>>>>> .r25084
Subversion?
]]>I could see this backfiring in a lawsuit though...
]]>Mine, too. FYI, onions are bad for dogs too. And a handful of raisins can KILL them.
Thankfully, these aren't foods likely to be used on the ice.
]]>@B: Yeah most have a shelf life of 2-3 years. You know when you're at your weird Aunt Mildred's place and the stuffing just tastes... off? Thats because her spices are from the 1970s.
]]>Tones is doing a good thing. Kudos for them donating instead of dumping. I like thier bulk spices at Sams/Costco. Makes me feel even better about using them.
]]>Is the road salt that's being mixed with garlic salt toxic or dangerous in any way? I'm just wondering if the garlic smell will tempt kids and/or animals to ingest enough of the mixture to be harmed.
I'm pretty ignorant about road salt. It might be prefectly OK to eat, but those bags you get for your driveway always have "don't eat this stuff" warnings.
]]>