For a tidy sum that would quickly close the deal on a brand-new car, a growing handful of companies will harvest DNA from your recently deceased (or living) fur baby and deliver a genetically identical critter in six months or so.
Is your dog that grew up with your 2-year-old going to be the same if it doesn’t grow up with your 2-year-old?
It’s a point well articulated by Dan Brekke, 68, of Berkeley, California. He and his wife, Kate, recently lost their beloved dog, Scout. “Sure, it crossed our mind momentarily,” he admits.
“But I think my take on it – with both our dog and with the idea, in general, is that just like a human being, the kind of dog he was was an expression of a lot more than just his DNA.”
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Related on the SLP
This “nature-vs.-nurture” argument came up repeatedly among comments on social media solicited for this story. However, others are given pause by ethical considerations, including the use of surrogate animals to grow the embryos and the overwhelming numbers of animals languishing in shelters for lack of homes.
“You’re putting a lot of lab animals through medical procedures that are unnecessary, that are not of benefit to them, and can harm them,” notes [Sharona] Hoffman. “You must harvest eggs; you must have pregnant animals.”
And, she says, it doesn’t always work. “There’s only about a 20% success rate. So to get a successful clone, you must do this to a bunch of animals.”
