RNL Bio, a cloning facility in Seoul, Korea, received its first commercial order in February from a California woman who will pay $150,000 for the cloning of her pit bull terrier named Booger. Booger 1 died and was a big help with the woman’s disability. Booger 2 was created using cells from the ear tissue of the donor dog & is expected to be born in September.
I’m sure she’s been told that Booger 2 will be a different dog than Booger 1. So Booger 2 may not help this woman at all with her disability.
The problem I see with cloning pets is that people may be expecting something more than what they’ll inevitably get. A cloned dog is an exact genetic replica of the first dog, but it is not the same dog. So you can’t realistically expect the new dog to be as smart, or loyal, or as silly as the original.
Cloning has its purpose for scientific reasons but I think cloning pets is a fad that will fall by the wayside once people realize that they’re not getting their beloved “Bowser” back. Once the novelty wears off, people will look at adoption again (which is the most humane route anyway).
