He’s an emerald in the ruff.
A North Carolina dog is going viral due to his unusual lime-green hue — which has earned him the moniker “Hulk puppy.”
Owner Shana Stamey, 35, said that their white German shepherd, Gypsy, gave birth to a litter of eight pups on Friday morning. The delivery went according to plan until puppy No. 4 came out lime green, causing Stamey to “freak out,” the mother told her local NBC outlet.
Despite its green hue, the dog was perfectly healthy, according to Suzanne Cianciulli, a veterinarian technician at Junaluska Animal Hospital. The animal expert attributes the pup’s peculiar coloration to being marinated in meconium — the puppies’ stool — while in the mother’s birth sack.
The pigment anomaly “can especially color white fur,” says Cianciulli.
Nonetheless, the owner has since grown fond of the St. Patrick’s-colored pup, even affectionately naming him Hulk because “he was lime green and super mad,” says Stamey.
Runner-up names included “Gremlin,” “Pistachio” and even “Pikachu” — as his color has begun to fade to yellow, according to Hulk’s proud owner. After a couple washes, the emerald tinge is expected to disappear entirely.
Stamey, who plans to put Hulk and company up for adoption when they’re old enough, says she sees her temporary fur baby as “a good luck charm” — like a shamrock.
Of course, not everyone thinks this is cute. When a pal posted a pic on Facebook, one prickly animal lover chimed in: “Educate yourself before breeding … proper research would have told you this was nothing to freak out over, this happens when a puppy passes meconium and it stains the pup.”