# Couple Pay $155,000 for First Commercially Cloned



## Mavrick6512 (Jul 9, 2007)

Are you serious! This is crazy. 
http://www.money.co.uk/article/1002661-couple-pay-155-000-for-first-commercially-cloned-dog.htm


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## DSudd (Sep 22, 2006)

Definitely crazy.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Too bad they didn't donate the $$$ to a rescue instead!


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## nathalie1977 (Sep 4, 2006)

I showed a clip about this to my students on Friday (From CNN Student News) and I got a mixture of amusement and disbelief at how ridiculous it is... especially since the original dog died of cancer, which means the pup stands a good chance of dying of the same thing.


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## Papanapa (Mar 1, 2008)

I did read somewhere that they have donated MORE than 155,000 to rescues. I do think that it is just plain creepy to clone anything. Gives me the willies to think where this clone stuff is all going???


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## Puddincat (Dec 14, 2008)

I don't like the idea of cloning. Each dog is special- you can't clone it, or rather..why would you want to?? How about donating that money to cancer research, or a rescue? I don't know. Not for me.


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## Winkin (Feb 21, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: Natespecially since the original dog died of cancer, which means the pup stands a good chance of dying of the same thing.


Exactly. Mind boggling.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

There was another dog who was cloned, "Missy" where the owners basically started a company in order to clone the dog. I found an article a few weeks ago which says that the original dog's owner is not even living with the cloned dog(s)! The woman who was so set on having a clone of her dog Missy says in this article:


> Quote:And who says goodnight to Mira's fellow clone, MissyToo? Hawthorne gave her to his mother, Joan Hawthorne, who still misses the original Missy. But she has yet to take a liking to Missy's progeny, and the dog has lived primarily with paid "handlers" in the Mill Valley pied-à-terre of her longtime companion, John Sperling.
> 
> "They're not at all alike," Hawthorne said of the old Missy and the new one. "In looks, they are a little bit, of course. But, I mean, the puppy is delicate and aggressive. Missy was robust and completely calm." She added, "Missy wouldn't come through my home and knock over every wineglass."
> 
> Besides, she adopted another puppy not long after Missy died. "I already have a dog — a real dog."












Here is the article:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/01/healthscience/01clones.php 


I also wondered about cloning a dog who died of cancer. It seems like a very bad idea to me...


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## DSudd (Sep 22, 2006)

Cloning period IMO is a bad idea.


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

Beyond disturbing and selfish.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

Everyone is going to die of something. To me, the cancer is only really an issue if the dog died young. If the dog died at age 14 of cancer, then that's just a part of senescence not a genetic problem with the dog.

Just read a bit more about them. I don't know about the ethics of cloning but as far as the money - seems like it's their money and they love their pets. Celebrities routinely shell out that much on jewelry and nobody seems to care. 

Here's another article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28892792/


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## VALIUM (Nov 15, 2007)

And also, maybe the cloned pup will be much more different in behaviour. I dunno. I loved kenzo to death, but lost him due to Rage syndrome. If I cloned him, I would have to eutanize him again(((..not a good idea for me.


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: pupresqI don't know about the ethics of cloning but as far as the money - seems like it's their money and they love their pets. Celebrities routinely shell out that much on jewelry and nobody seems to care.


I do have a big issue with animal loving celebs who can drop thousands-millions of dollars on one night excursions or material things but turn a blind eye to the suffering, abandonment, neglect and thousands of dogs sitting in shelters and dying every single day and rescues that could really use the help. I know a handful are involved in shelter/rescue/anti puppy mill causes but it's not even a fraction of what could be accomplished if more celebs pitched in just a small amount of their funds. I know different people have different priorities...but this is just wishful thinking.


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## Chicagocanine (Aug 7, 2008)

I lost my Golden at 12 to cancer and I consider it a genetic problem and not just "old age"... She was still walking 3 miles, running and participating in animal assisted therapy and pet events before the cancer started taking its toll on her. Her heart was in great shape and everything else was working fine (according to ultrasounds and x-rays) and her vision and hearing were great... If it wasn't for her white face you would never have known she was 12 despite her severe spondylosis (exercise and supplements kept her able to run/walk/jump well even with that.)


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

But cancer isn't necessarily genetic. It can be, but often it's not. Does seem to be a breed issue in Goldens though. It sounds like your Golden had really good genetics to have been in such good shape at age 12. 

I definitely agree with you MustLoveGSDs!







The world would be a better place if more people were like that. I'll admit though, if I had that kind of money and I wasn't going to donate it, I can sure see using it to get what I'd think of as Grace's puppy (because it could never be her) more than a canary diamond or something.


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## ninhar (Mar 22, 2003)

> Originally Posted By: MustLoveGSDsBeyond disturbing and selfish.


I don't neccesarily agree with what these people did, but I don't see why they have received this response. How many people here have been on the receiving end of someone asking how you could spend that much money on your dog? After all, that money could have gone to help other dogs or people in need. These people could have spent that money on a trip around the world, but they didn't. They spent it on something that meant a lot to them and they didn't harm anyone or thing in the process.


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## JeanKBBMMMAAN (May 11, 2005)

In Goldens I believe that cancer is a BIG genetic problem.







ETA-can you isolate the cause of cancer-can you say this is from genetics I wonder? Is this a really stupid question? And I always forget to say sorry for your loss...even if it's been said before. 

However, if I were to clone Kramer, I wouldn't be worried about the cancer, even though that is what he will die from. 

In fact with what I know now...I might be able to push it off a couple of extra years. 

So I think I know what pupresq is saying. 

Everyone has to die of something sometime...

A slightly off version of the Dean Martin song!


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## george1990 (Nov 24, 2008)

The main thing against cloning is that the clones will rarely turn out the same as the original. I mean, a LOT of who you are is determined by experiences and environment, not just your genes. Stupid, stupid idea in this case, IMO.


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## jake (Sep 11, 2004)

those who pay for cloning a dog should also pay to clone themselves as owner of the dog.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

The main appeal it has to me is similar to the desire to breed a beloved pet so you could keep one of their puppies. Grace is altered and I wouldn't do that anyway, so that's a no go, but I would LOVE to have a dog with her genetics and appearance to raise from a puppy. I don't think of clones as being the same dog as the original any more than I think my husband and his identical twin brother are the same person (ick!). So maybe (aside from the money) some of it is how these people are approaching it. Do they want the clone to be exactly the same dog or are there just things about the original dog that they want to perpetuate in some fashion? Thinking it's going to be the same dog/person/whatever is creepy, but to carry on that dog's DNA and because you liked the look/size/whatever of the first dog, that I get.


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## MustLoveGSDs (Oct 31, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: ninhar
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: MustLoveGSDsBeyond disturbing and selfish.
> ...


Hey I'm just voicing my opinion







No stress.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

*Re: Couple Pay $155,000 for First Commercially Clo*

From Chicagocanine's article:



> Quote:The idea of trying to clone Missy in the first place came from Sperling, who has been in the family picture since Hawthorne was 4 years old — Hawthorne typically refers to him as his stepfather — back in 1997. At the time, Hawthorne was at a sort of career crossroads, having worked in the interactive video-production business and just returned from five months riding a motorcycle across India. Sperling, who would not agree to be interviewed, is a billionaire who founded the University of Phoenix, the adult-education institution with nearly 200 locations. Hawthorne said that his various fruitless attempts at cloning were paid for by more than $15 million of Sperling's money, some of which went to purchasing several competing and related biotech businesses in what Hawthorne described as an industry roll-up.
> 
> "It's kind of weird," Hawthorne said. "They spent 10 years waiting for this to happen and then they don't even want the dogs living with them." *In recent weeks, he added, Sperling has been making an effort to keep MissyToo with him at his house in San Francisco. ("He's going to have to launch on some serious dog training," Hawthorne said of this new development.)*


As an interesting aside, my husband is a residential remodeling contractor, and John Sperling is one of our clients. Tom has worked on his house in San Francisco, and he's met MissyToo. Recently, they installed a dog door, and Tom said she's still not housebroken yet.


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## GunnerJones (Jul 30, 2005)

*Re: Couple Pay $155,000 for First Commercially Clo*

Just suppose for a moment they get the cost down(they always do) and were able to clone KKL Uberhunds or K9s giving you near 100% foreknowledge of strengths and weakness, or the money that could be made studding out your champion forever. would that change our opinion of cloning animals? How about endangered species?


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