Spanish Dog Gives Birth to Green Puppies

Two hunting dog breeders from Spain joked that their two tiny, green critters were ?Hulk pups??at least until they realized what might be causing their Granny Smith colored coats.

Daniel Valverde, a Spanish vet who is investigating the puppies? fur, believes an exposure to biliverdin?a green bile pigment found in the placenta?may be to blame. That was the story behind a different green puppy who was born in the U.K. in 2012.

Though the pigmentation poses no known health risks, the two puppies were smaller and weaker than others in their litter. One died shortly after birth, which Valverde is also investigating.

Luckily, the surviving green puppy won?t be green for much longer. The condition resolves itself within weeks, and his green hue has already begun to fade.

Molina, who breeds hunting dogs with her father Manuel Vallelado, said: ?I thought the puppies were maybe dirty somehow and I tried to clean them, but the colour wouldn?t come off and then I realised it was the colour of their fur.?

The green puppies were born smaller and weaker than the other puppies in the litter. One of them, a female, sadly died shortly after birth. But the male puppy is still alive although weak. He is also gradually beginning to lose his colouring.