Is pet cloning a con?

For a lot of people the idea of replacing a beloved pet dog with one that is identical in every way (a clone) is extremely tempting. BioArts International, a Californian biotech company with a long history of forays into the pet cloning industry, has recently begun an online auction to clone five dogs.

The dogs will become the first canines to be cloned exclusively for commercial sale and represent one of the boldest attempts yet to kick start a global pet cloning industry that might one day be used by millions of people to make copies of their own dogs.

Bidding in “Best Friends Again” is expected to start at $100,000 and is aimed at owners with enough cash to fund what is at the moment an extremely complicated and costly scientific process. To deter time wasters, the regulations insist that people provide evidence of cash or assets of at least $250,000 before being allowed to bid.

However before you get involved, the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has produced a detailed report which says, in summary :- "The cloning of cats and dogs, particularly for pets, has drawn global media attention, but the serious animal suffering and disreputable activities that can go on behind the scenes of the cloning industry have largely been overlooked.

They also say that it is "an industry fraught with questionable science and consumer deception, drawing much-needed attention to the animals and people who are being exploited for profit".

Lets hope we can get to the truth about this soon.