Family Name Their New Puppy “Hulk” For Being Born Green

It seems Marvel may have a new Avengers character.

A German shepherd, in North Carolina, has given birth to a puppy whose fur is a bright shade of green. The unusual puppy was born alongside seven other pups, which came out a normal color. The dog named Gypsy was in labour for three hours, Shana Stamey, her owner, told local news station WLOS.

Shana, 35, was looking after Gypsy while she was giving birth on January 10 when she noticed a green puppy pop out.

“I started freaking out because it was green,” Shana, from Canton, North Carolina, explained.

“As Gypsy is doing her job getting him cleaned up, he was crying and looked bright neon lime green.”

The puppy’s strange hue may have been caused by “meconium”, the earliest stool produced by an infant dog, in the mother’s womb.

Previous reports have suggested a pigment within the meconium can stain dogs’ coats before birth.

“The puppy’s green hue is likely to have been caused by meconium, a puppy’s first faeces which may be passed ahead of birth, or placental pigments,” Daniella Dos Santos, president of the British Veterinary Association, told The Independent.

“In any case, this should fade over time.”

In the pictures the dog looks yellow, but Hulk’s owner said he was actually bright green (Picture: Caters)

The pup’s green coloration has already begun to turn a light yellow, according to Shana.

Her family chose to name the dog “Hulk”, after the raging green Marvel superhero.

“Once she was done we checked him out, he was heavy and looked mad, so the name Hulk came to mind,” Shana said.

However, as the dog’s fur has now turned a shade of yellow, he has also been nicknamed Pikachu, after the yellow Pokémon.