Just when you think you’ve seen it all and dogs just couldn’t be any cuter, you learn about a dog named Enzo that blows your mind.
Enzo Viola (full name: Lorenzo deMedici Splotch Viola) is an English Cream Golden Retriever whose rare “birthmark” has gotten him thousands of followers on social media.
This beautiful Golden boy was born with a rare genetic mutation that made his face look different from everyone else’s.
The Golden Retriever dog breed typically has a uniformly-colored coat, but puppy Enzo was born with something that his family likes to call a ‘lil’ Freckle’.
Mister Enzo has a large splotch of black fur around one of his eyes and down the side of his face, which caused him to be known as the black-splotched Golden.
Before learning about Enzo, I had never heard of such a thing, and I think most people have never heard of such a thing either.
It is because this kind of mutation is extremely rare, only 1 in 900,000 dogs have it. The scientific name for it is Pigmented Somatic Cell Mutation. To put it simply, it is something similar to a human birthmark.
Ella Castro, Enzo’s mom, explained it to The Dodo: “Golden retrievers are born with a base black coat, with a ‘modifier gene’ that turns them golden. Almost every dog has this modifier. Enzo has a little stumble in his DNA that erased it on that one part of his face.”
This little stumble in Enzo’s DNA has caused him to be a very special pup.
Mister Enzo has his own Instagram profile, which has more than 197K followers who fell in love with him.
The Castro family, from Texas, owns Enzo and shares his daily adventures with the rest of the world through photos and videos.
They describe Enzo as “pro napper, sock thiever, long-walk taker, kiss giver, and fuzzy snuggler.”
He was adopted by the family in 2016 when Enzo was only 2 months old. Besides his rare birthmark, he has always been just like any other puppy.
Dr. Christopher Reeder, of BluePearl Pet Hospital, said, “Other than coat color change and making a very interesting patterned animal, this appears to have no other ill effects. Just about any breed of dog can be affected.”
Even though he is very rare, Enzo is just like any other Golden Retriever that is very friendly and loves to play.
Castro said, “Most people don’t know he’s a golden, so they often ask his breed and say they assumed he was a mutt, because goldens are solid colored.”
Clarissa Castro, the daughter, told Mirror.co.uk, “We got to meet Enzo and his brothers, and we instantly fell in love with Enzo not just because of his marking, but because he was the sweetest and most playful puppy.”
Another special thing about Enzo is that he is actually unusually big for his breed; however, there is no proof that this is connected to his mutation.
Other than that, he is just like any other pup who happens to be a little bit different-looking than the rest of his breed.
If you ever meet Enzo, you’ll see that he is the epitome of a “good boy” with his gentle nature, enormous love, and happy spirit.
