Just when we thought the year couldn’t get any weirder, a farmer in Italy delivered some shocking news: one of his eight dogs gave birth to a bright green puppy.
And it was odd indeed. You see, all the other puppies in the litter had white fur—the same color as their mixed-breed mother Spelacchia. Thus, the origins of its green fur remain a mystery.
Cristian Mallocci, owner of these dogs (and now the green-furred puppy), was shocked when he saw the green pup among the 5 newborns. He then named the little dog Pistachio to reflect its unusual color.
In an interview with Reuters, he said that he plans to raise the puppy to look after sheep with his mother on the farm that he runs with Giannangelo Liperi, his brother-in-law.
Although it is an incredibly rare phenomenon for a dog to be born with green fur, the color may have occurred when dogs with pale fur are stained with “meconium” in the mother’s womb. This pigment is the earliest stool produced by an infant animal.
Another possibility could be “biliverdin”, the pigment that causes the green color in bruises. But sad to say, the color will fade over time when the dog gets older.
Photo from Cristian Mallocci’s Instagram
According to Mallocci, the color green is a symbol of hope and luck, so Pistachio’s surprising arrival amid these difficult times was “meant to be” so that he could make people smile.
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