Rare puppy born with green fur in Italy

An Italian farmer welcomed a litter of five dogs earlier this month — and one of the pups stood out among the rest. Cristian Mallocci couldn't believe his eyes when one of them was born with green fur.

Jasmine Le

[email protected] October 23, 2020 | 11:06

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Little Pistachio has a rare green fur at birth (Photo: BBC)

Mallocci's dog, Spelacchia, gave birth to four other dogs with white fur, the same color as hers. Spelacchia is mixed-breed, but that doesn't explain why one of her pups came out with green fur, CBS News reported.

The strange pigmentation is believed to occur when pale puppies come in contact with biliverdin in their mother's womb, according to Reuters. Biliverdin is also the pigment that makes bruises sometimes appear green.

The dog, however, won't always be green. The color will continually fade as the puppy grows and gets older, Reuters reports.

Still, Mallocci, who runs a farm on the island of Sardinia, promptly chose a fitting name for the green dog: Pistachio.

However, in what will come as sad news to many, Pistachio's color has already started to fade, and will continue to do so, BBC reported.

Mr. Mallocci has decided to give away all the puppies, apart from Pistachio, who will help him herd sheep on the farm.

Green is a colour of hope and luck, he added - something many of us could do with a little bit more of in 2020.

The other dogs in the litter, however, have normal fur color (Photo: BBC)

It is extremely rare for a dog to be born with green fur, but other pups like Pistachio have made headlines before. In 2017, when a green puppy was born in Massachusetts, a young boy with his own rare condition adopted him, CBS Boston reported.

Earlier this year, a green puppy was born outside of Asheville, North Carolina. The dog's family appropriately named him The Hulk, CBS affiliate WNCN-TV reported.

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