Unfur-gettable: Puppy with green fur born in Sardinia

Pistachio, a puppy who was born with green fur, is seen on the day he was born on a farm on the island of Sardinia, in Pattada, Italy, October 9, 2020. Cristian Mallocci/Handout via REUTERS

ROME (Reuters) - Italian farmer Cristian Mallocci could not believe his eyes when Spelacchia, one of his eight dogs, gave birth to a green-furred puppy.

The tiny dog, immediately named Pistachio, was part of a five-dog litter born on Oct. 9, all with white fur, the same colour as their mixed breed mum. Except him.

Mallocci runs a farm on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia with his brother-in-law Giannangelo Liperi.

It is extremely rare for a dog to be born with green-coloured fur. It is thought that it happens when pale coloured puppies have contact in their mother's womb with a green pigment called biliverdin. It is the same pigment that causes the green colour in bruises.

However, Pistachio's peculiar colour won't last forever. The bright green his fur had on the day of his birth has faded day by day and it will continue to do so as he gets older.

While his brothers and sisters will be given away to new homes, Mallocci will keep Pistachio on his farm and train him up to look after the sheep with his mother Spelacchia (Italian for "mangy").

Mallocci said that during these tough times of the coronavirus pandemic, green is the symbol of hope and luck, so maybe it was meant to be that Pistachio could put a smile on people's faces.

(Reporting by Emily Roe and Oriana Boselli, writing by Angelo Amante, editing by Gavin Jones and Gareth Jones)