Cloning Pets - Just What This World Needs
Ok, so I'm sitting watching the morning news on the BBC and there's this human interest story about this American woman who paid some company in South Korea $50,000 to clone her dog after he'd passed away. She found him and he ended up saving her from a dog attack. When he died, she didn't want another pet, she wanted him back - end of story. After she met these people from the Korean company, she morgaged her home to get 5 clones of her dog. She insists that they will be exactly like her old dog, both mentally and physically, and that is what she wants.
I could be wrong, dog psychology isn't my field, but part of her dog's personality stemmed from his earliest experiences, so I don't see how any five dogs, clones or not, could be exactly the same. They are shaped even from where they fall in the litter's hierarchy.
The company who cloned the dog says that once this practice becomes more popular the price will drop. I'll bet the world's humane societies are just thrilled about that. Dog breeders must be pleased as well. I'm all for genetic research but I this that this business of cloning pets is foolish and will do nothing to help the overall pet population.
I loved my dog and when she died I was very unhappy, but I don't want to replace her. I want the chance to bond with another canine individual and have Shadow as a unique, very happy set of memories. That's just me, but I tought I'd share this because it got me thinking about the whole "dog as companion vs. dog as commodity" thing.
I could be wrong, dog psychology isn't my field, but part of her dog's personality stemmed from his earliest experiences, so I don't see how any five dogs, clones or not, could be exactly the same. They are shaped even from where they fall in the litter's hierarchy.
The company who cloned the dog says that once this practice becomes more popular the price will drop. I'll bet the world's humane societies are just thrilled about that. Dog breeders must be pleased as well. I'm all for genetic research but I this that this business of cloning pets is foolish and will do nothing to help the overall pet population.
I loved my dog and when she died I was very unhappy, but I don't want to replace her. I want the chance to bond with another canine individual and have Shadow as a unique, very happy set of memories. That's just me, but I tought I'd share this because it got me thinking about the whole "dog as companion vs. dog as commodity" thing.
Comments
It's wrong, plain and simple.
There was a show awhile back about this ....sometimes things go horribly wrong. I don't recall the ratio but it took a lot of trys to get even close physically. You can get the animal to be a clone physically but not exactly in personality. Maybe they have developed this better, but to my knowledge it has not progressed to be 100% complete.
Talk about a glass menagerie....it all seems rather freakish to me once a pet has died...sort of like the movie FrankinWeenie.
Just my two cents...
Snf
Her answer to the question "But do you think they will be just like (forgot the dogs name, but it was a pitbull)?" was something like this :
- "sure they will, I mean they're exactly the same. I'm exactly like my mother, with all her flaws. So they will be just like (again forgot dog's name)"
I'm imagining what will happen when they do not behave the same. The comparisons, the disappointment.
If this woman goes through with this cloning process, she is going to hold these dogs up to the standard of her original dog. And what is going to happen to them when (yes WHEN, not IF) they disappoint her because their personalities are different? They are either going to end up in a shelter, or worse.
This should be stopped before it even begins. I am all for genetic research and the good (and sometimes bad) that comes along with it. But cloning a creature because you miss the original is morally and ethically, just wrong.
Sorry for the rant. But things of this nature really bother me.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121789604499712031.html?mod=yhoofront
The one thing about the article that bothered me was they hinted at the fact that things might not be awesome from the dog's perspective, but they didn't really follow through. I can see this being very confusing for some dogs, not ever really getting a forever home, being around different people all the time many of whom may have no idea how to appropriately handle a dog. I would think that only dogs with a very specific temperament would be appropriate for this type of thing.
As for splitting time with families, I think I'm ok with that too. I don't think I would ever do that myself, but I can see there being a lot of benefit to it.
http://news.aol.com/article/woman-gets-five-clones-of-her-pitbull/118644?icid=100214839x1207232317x1200353710
Her dog died of cancer, won't these three dogs be predisposed to cancer, also? If so, thats just plain selfish to do, not that cloning a dog while others die in shelters isn't selfish, but this one takes the cake!
**AND she remortgaged her home for these dogs? Hopefully they won't be the next dogs to end up in shelter due to foreclosure.
Ugh. Stupid people with dogs are really getting to me today.
And yes a f$%&*ing pit bull. 1 in 500 pit bulls will find a home and she is making multiple duplicates of the same dog.
growling now...
Jessica brings up a good point, not only pit bulls, but how many other dogs are sitting homeless in shelters? Dogs who NEED a loving home... Growling also.
From a genetics point of view cloning is virtually the same as identical twins they are similar, but not the same person, no matter how many cute matching clothes you put them in. If one twin was to die you couldnt just decide to act like the other twin was that person they are completely diffrent.
In genetics also cloning is a imperfect science and most clones do not live a normal life-span, which is believed to be caused by already shortened telomeres (the caps on DNA that prevent it from degrading) as we age these telomeres degrade leaving us at risk for cancer, reduced immune system, etc... So clones these days are believed to come out with the same damaged telomeres as the aged dog that was cloned. Leaving them at risk for all sorts of problems.
Go adopt a new dog lady, stop trying to raise the dead! it doesn't work.
It does raise an interesting ethical question though. Let’s say the technology got very cheap, and didn’t involve segregates. Then it could have the potential to put puppy mills out of business. Why drop a grand on a collie when you could whip up lassie in your bath tub? If only it were that simple.
Clicky here
I even took the time to make a direct link, yay me.
**Edit**
The worst thing about this lady is how unbelievably selfish she is... She's sick and in a wheelchair living on benefits. Yet, apparently needs that cloned dog for the few more years she might live, because she's just that selfish.
understatement of the year.
This lady is weirder than you initially thought...