Go Fetch a Clone

Let me get this straight? Every year thousands of wonderful pets are put to death because there is no room for them, and no money to take care of them. Thsi woman want sto spend $150,000 to clone a long since departed dog. Wow, I know a great rescue operation that could save hundreds of dogs for that amount. Where are her priorities?

What they're leaving out of this article is whether or not the cloned animals end up being just like the original personality-wise. It would be an interesting way to study nature vs. nurture, what traits are genetic and what traits are learned and determined by experience.

Woestendiek writes that "the marketing of cloned pets to the general public, once relegated to science fiction, has become a reality." Yeah... but that happened back in 2004. Remember Little Nicky? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Nicky_ (cat)

Cloning pets is contributing to the pet overpopulation.

Save a life. Rescue a shelter pet.

www.petfinder.com

Right, the new dogs won't have any of the experiences or early environment good old Booger had. They could grow up to be nothing but little snots.

Debbie wrote:

Let me get this straight? Every year thousands of wonderful pets are put to death because there is no room for them, and no money to take care of them. Thsi woman want sto spend $150,000 to clone a long since departed dog. Wow, I know a great rescue operation that could save hundreds of dogs for that amount. Where are her priorities?

This dog apparently saved the woman's life at one point so she became very attached. The media report is that the Korean company charged her $50,000, not the going rate. There's also a great scientific experiment going on here, as another Maryland poster points out, how much of the behavioral phenotypic traits are determined by the genotype and how much by the environment.

All in all, it still boils down to ridiculous behavior. Pets are like people in that each has a unique personality. Some are lucky to have owned pets that were truly remarkable and those memories are priceless. In the grand scheme of life we are all (human and animal) destined to move on. The demise of one animal should open the door of opportunity for another animal, That is the wheel and karma of life.

@Debbie,
You don't have any right to blame Bernann over those dogs abandoned to streets. Did read that part? Booger was homeless and adopted by her. If you are to blame others, find them who are irresponsible and willing to kick their dogs out of their house.

cosmo wrote:

Cloning pets is contributing to the pet overpopulation.
Save a life. Rescue a shelter pet.
www.petfinder.com

If you are too concerned about growing population of unwanted dogs, please educate people to be responsible. If you will be tired of your dog, don't adopt it.
One more, cloned dog is wanted one and abandoned homeless dogs are unwanted ones by some people.Adding dog clones has nothing to do with overpopulation of the given up. More over, the adding rate of clones is inappreciable when compared to that of homeless dogs. The number of people who can afford to clone a dog will be limited. So, don't worry about that, mind how can we help the poor dogs.

I'd like to respond to the uneducated critics and nosy busy bodies who seem to take it on themselves not only to tell ME how to spend MY money, but who make uneducated comments on CLONING! FIRST OF ALL, I NOW OWN ( AND HAVE HAD FOR YEARS) FIVE RESCUE DOGS OF MY OWN. IF I COULD, I WOULD ADOPT ALL EIGHT MILLION DOGS IN THE UNITED STATES WHO ARE SETTING IN POUNDS READY TO BE KILED BY HUMANS! For all those out there criticizing ME, how MANY
RESCUES do YOU HAVE IN your home? Secondly, beside needing him to help me with my physical disability, I have suffered severe emotional pain since my beloved Booger's passing. For a long time after he died, I could not sleep or eat and my friends literally had to force feed me. It was like I was dying along WITH him. I was pining away and had lost the will to live. The only thing which saved me was THOSE WONDERFUL KIND GENTLE PEOPLE FROM KOREA, AND CLONING. It made me smile again and able to enjoy life again. It gave me hope that I could be with my beloved Booger once again. And I'm not going to let a bunch of creeps like you jerks who are DEVOID OF COMPASSION change me, so BUG OFF AND MIND YOUR OWN DARN BUSINESS!!!! God knew how sad I was without my Booger so he sent me five more!...... For those of you kind enough to support my sincere acts, I thank you. Please go see the movie and read the book (I'm taking offers from publishers now) and see all the legitimate documentaries on Service dog Booger and you will too see why we are cloning this exceptional dog who spread love and worked his particular brand of magic every where he went!---Love...Bernann McKinnney