Cirneco dell’Etna

The Cirneco dell’Etna is an Italian hunting dog from the island of Sicily, named for the Etna volcano in the east of the island. It is the traditional warren hound of Sicily. It has a keen sense of smell and is used to hunt small game, rabbits above all.

The word cirneco comes from the Latin cyrenaicus, referring to Cyrenaica in North Africa. In modern Italian it is used for all the small hunting dogs of the Mediterranean islands, including those of Malta and the Balearics.

History

The Cirneco is often said to be an ancient breed with roots in Ancient Egypt or Phoenicia. According to the Italian kennel club, the Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana, coins and inscriptions show dogs of this kind in Sicily before the time of Christ. Genetic studies have given mixed results. One found the Kelb tal-Fenek of Malta and the Podenco Ibicenco closest to it; another found gene flow from the Podenco Canario; and a 2021 genomic study placed it nearest the Kelb tal-Fenek and the two varieties of Segugio Italiano.

The first written description of the modern breed was published in 1932 by Maurizio Migneco, a veterinary surgeon from Adrano on the slopes of Etna. A Sicilian noblewoman, Agata Paternó Castello, read it, bought some of the dogs and began breeding them in 1934. The Italian kennel club recognized the breed in 1939, with a standard drawn up by Giuseppe Solaro of Turin, and the Fédération Cynologique Internationale gave it full acceptance in 1956.

It is a rare breed. Between 2010 and 2018, about 100 to 150 new dogs were registered in Italy each year. A dog can be registered only after it has passed a working field trial.

Appearance

Males stand 46 to 50 cm and weigh 10 to 13 kg; females stand 44 to 48 cm and weigh 8 to 10 kg. The coat is short on the head and short to semi-long on the body, in light sand, isabella, or light to dark tan.

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