A resident of Sardinia, farmer Christian Mallochi, was peacefully breeding sheep and didn’t think he would become famous throughout the country. His beloved shepherd dog Spelacchia had calved and the owner was surprised and delighted to see that one of the four pups was green!
Green is a good thing. Green is the color of hope!
The other puppies were of the typical white color, all like his mother, but the young Pistachio, as he was nicknamed, was surprising with a gentle green shade of hair. In addition, Tsutsik turned out to be bigger and more active than his brothers, and therefore Mallochi decided to keep him for himself, for luck. The rest of the puppies were distributed among the customers beforehand, but Pistachio is destined to grow into an excellent herding dog!
As the local veterinarian explained, the phenomenon is well studied, although it remains rare-no more than a couple of cases a year worldwide. Sometimes a mother dog’s bile gets into the amniotic fluid during pregnancy and the substance biliverdin stains the puppy’s green pigment. But it doesn’t accumulate, it’s actually a one-time procedure, so as the puppy grows, the dye fades and disappears. The babies stay green for only a few weeks and it does not interfere with them in any way later in life. Although it makes them famous — all of Sardinia and Italy found out about Pistachio!
In two weeks Pistachio has already grown into a healthy and active baby!
