The Cirneco is a small, primitive breed that is used in Sicily to hunt rabbits near the mount Etna volcano. Now fairly common in its native land, the breed almost disappeared until revived in the early 1900's.
The first breed standard was written and accepted by the ENCI (FCI) in Italy in 1939. An updated version was approved by the FCI in 1956, and is a member of Group 5 for Spitz and Primitive breeds, and is classified under section 7 as a primitive hunting breed. This year also saw the creation of the breed club in Italy.
The breed is believed to have existed in Sicily for the last 2500 years. Cirnechi can now be found throughout Western Europe, Scandinavia, the USA and most recently Russia.
