Bernann McKinney, who paid over $50,000 to have her beloved pit bull Booger cloned by the South Korean biotech firm RNL Bio, now has 5 Booger Jr’s. She is also now the subject of controversy. Questions were being asked if McKinney was in fact Joyce McKinney, a former Hollywood beauty queen who was involved in a Mormon sex slave kidnapping over 30 years ago.
The young Joyce was convicted of wrongful imprisonment & spent 3 months in prison. The controversy arose when people thought they recognized McKinney from her younger, “wilder” days - in which she also posed nude for men’s magazines.
Side by side pictures show the uncanny resemblence. Although Bernann McKinney initially denied that it was her, she recently admitted to it.
The revelation about McKinney was not the first bizarre twist relating to South Korean cloning. Hwang Woo-suk, a scientist once revered as a national hero, became a global embarrassment after it was revealed in 2005 that he faked evidence to bolster claims of what would have been breakthrough research on cloning human stem cells.
|
August 14, 2008 - 10:10 pm
|
Cynthia
Ellen Degeneres has one, & now the daytime cooking talks show hostess Rachel Ray has one. What do they each have? Their own lines of dog food.
Rachael Ray has launched a new line of super premium dog food and treats called “Rachael Ray Nutrish.” Proceeds from each sale will be donated to support Rachael’s Rescue, which is dedicated to helping at-risk animals through adoption, medical care and educational programs, along with training and outreach initiatives.
Rachel had input in creating the dog food & treats. They are available & most stores nationwide & retail from about $3.99 - $16.99. Find out where to get them at www.nutrishforpets.com.
|
August 5, 2008 - 6:41 am
|
Cynthia
Sam Diesel, the 2 year old German Shepherd police dog died from the heat after he was found in a police cruiser. The dog was routinely kept in the police cruiser with the air conditioning on. But on this day, the air conditioner failed and the dog died from the heat. No one knows how long the dog was in the car without AC but he was in the car for more than one hour while his handler was inside the police station working.
Sam Diesel was bought back in October for $12,625 and was paid for by donations from local WalMart employees when the police did a fund raiser.
It just goes to show, no matter who you are, you should never leave your dog alone in a car on a hot day.
See Sam here…
|
July 27, 2008 - 9:01 am
|
Cynthia
Over 200 people were bitten by dogs in one day in Ahmedabad, India! In 2007, there were around 80,000 dog bite cases reported by hospitals in Ahmedabad. Stray dogs have over-run many cities in India, so much so that a law was passed last year to sterilize the thousands of strays. But, none of the agencies responsible for project has bothered to start work. That’s government for ya! :p
|
July 23, 2008 - 9:49 am
|
Cynthia
Summer is upon us & this is the time of year when many a beloved dog dies after being left in a hot, locked car. Even leaving your pooch in the car for just a few minutes (even if you crack the window) could kill your dog. Remember, dogs can’t sweat to cool themselves off. Be mindful before you take your dog with you when you run errands this summer.
One place many people don’t consider their dog suffering heat related problems is when they take their dog cross country with them on an airplane. Most pets are put in the cargo hold (which is air conditioned), however when the plane is coming in for a landing, the air conditioning is turned off. The temperature in the city you land in should be no more than 86°, otherwise it is like leaving your dog in a hot car with the windows up (& who knows how long it’ll be before they get your pet out of the cargo hold). Again be mindful if you are transporting your pet via airplane. If the temperature is going to be hot when you land, schedule your flight for the coolest part of the day.
Speaking of summer, 60 dogs rode the waves at the 3rd Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition held at Imperial Beach, Calif. The competition raised money for the Modest Needs Foundation, which combats poverty.
Some of these dogs really have style on the boards - decked out in sunglasses & shorts. Check them out…
Cloning a beloved pet (dog) is great, but it seems like animal cloning is like any science assisted birth. What do you do about multiples?
Women who take fertility drugs to get pregnant routinely have multiple children…& not just 2 or 3 - but quadruplets, quintuplets & more.
Many times it takes more than one embryo to conceive. So if you only had one “Fido,” do you take all 3 clones if all the eggs were fertilized?
That’s a dilemma facing American Bernann McKinney, who was disabled several years ago when she was attacked by a Mastiff. Her late pitbull Booger, to be the world’s first commercially cloned pet dog, saved McKinney’s life during the attack.
McKinney is excited to see the offspring of Booger. They are scheduled to be born in August in South Korea with the help of Seoul National University researchers.
Read more about it here…
A man in Iowa crashed his car because he was intoxicated. When the police arrived on the scene to do a blood test, they found a bottle of pills prescribed for the mans dog in the car. It turns out that the man had mistakenly taken the pills prescribed for his dog. The pill, Phenobarbital is used to control seizures in people and pets. It wasn’t reported if he knowingly took the meds or not.
The Poison Control Center says people taking their pet’s medicine by mistake is not uncommon. Wear your glasses before you open up the pill bottle!
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).
|
June 3, 2008 - 11:33 am
|
Cynthia
South Korea is on the forefront of cloning animals. Not long ago they cloned two drug sniffing dogs & bred them to have puppies. Now they are cloning a black labrador named Marine who is touted as having a world top cancer-sniffing ability in hopes of passing on her sniffing ability to her cloned offspring. By making her clones, they want to promote studies into cancer-sniffing dogs.
This will be the world’s first cloning of a cancer-sniffing dog.
Speaking of Cloned Dogs…
A California bio-tech firm has partnered with the same South Korean cloning firm & is opening an auction next month allowing bids on 5 cloned dogs. If you want your pooch cloned, all you have to do pony up is $100,000 to start the bidding.
The dog cloning project is called “Best Friends Again.” Read more about it…
In South Korea, the world’s first cloned dog, an Afghan hound will become a father next month in the first breeding of cloned canines. Snuppy, the cloned father successfully impregnated two cloned females of the same breed through artificial insemination. The puppies are expected to be born between May 16 and 20.
If the births take place, it will mark the first time that cloned dogs have reproduced successfully.
|
April 29, 2008 - 9:01 am
|
Cynthia