Would you pay $100,000 to have your dog cloned ? Image Credit: sxc.hu
Dog owners from West Yorkshire are celebrating the arrival of two cloned puppies costing almost $100,000.
Richard Remde and Laura Jacques are the first people in Britain to have their pet dog cloned through the services of the controversial Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in South Korea.
The couple were so devastated when their boxer dog, Dylan, died of a brain tumor earlier this year that they decided to contact the company in the hope that his DNA could be used to create a clone.
Now, just in time for the festive season, Richard and Laura have become the proud owners of two healthy puppies, Chance and Shadow, who are practically identical to their beloved Dylan.
"The whole thing just feels surreal," said Laura. "I lost all sense of time. I have no idea how long everything took, the whole thing made me feel very disoriented. I was just clinging on to Richard for about an hour and a half after Chance was born."
"Even as a puppy of just a few minutes old I can't believe how much he looks like Dylan. All the colorings and patterns on his body are in exactly the same places as Dylan had them."
The couple are hoping to take the two dogs home in July after the quarantine period ends.
So many great dogs that need homes that end up being put down. Such a waste. Since the dogs are twins of the dog that died of brain cancer I would think these dogs will have the same fate. Being they are clones it may even happen sooner than it did with the original dog. It just goes to show having a lot of money doesn't necessarily mean having any brains.
I just think what an odd thing to do, Their dogs gone and having him cloned isn't going to bring him back. Money would have been better spent on getting a new pup, Maybe a rescue one, Plenty of those needing new homes and a loving family. Guess some people just have more money than sense.
It will be awkward when the new dog doesn't do the same things the old dog did. It will be even more awkward if the owners try to force the old dog's mannerisms on the new one lol like what if the old dog absolutely loved playing fetch but the new one has 0 interest in it? Will the owners have regrets about spending 6 figures on this? At what point does it click in just how hopeless this endeavor was? On the other hand, they may not care. They may be going in to this knowing full well it will be "the same but different"
I've had many animals that I would have loved to have kept forever or even had their offspring, but with so many wonderful animals being killed every day in every part of this planet how can I be that selfish? So, I think what they did was very selfish and they just killed two other dogs that they very well could have adopted. Sad.
So many great dogs that need homes that end up being put down. Such a waste. Since the dogs are twins of the dog that died of brain cancer I would think these dogs will have the same fate. Being they are clones it may even happen sooner than it did with the original dog. It just goes to show having a lot of money doesn't necessarily mean having any brains. You bring-up a good point. I could easily imagine that a cloned creature might genetically possess whatever disease "vulnerability" as the host from which it was cloned. As well as whatever positive genetic traits, of course.
Don't have enough time to read all of the comments so forgive me if I'm reposting this. Aren't some tumors or the diseases that cause tumors to form hereditary?
I might chip in to clone the Thylacine, if that ever becomes truly possible, or the Mammoth, or a Saber Toothed Cat, but a dog? No thanks, we have plenty of dogs and there is not guarantee your cloned animal will have a normal life span, no heath problems or the same personality as the original.
My dog escaped around new year day, maybe day before, just when this news was released. He managed to break the chains ( which happened some 3 times so far ) in front of house and outside it was too foggy, visibility about 3 meters in every direction so i could not find him. He is always in house, house dog but sometimes i let him stay outside in garden, not anymore tho. I was feeling worse about loosing him than i felt in much worse life situations i had before, i just love my dog so much So, after hours of walking and yelling his name, i realized that i failed him and have gone home. My pare... [More]
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