Cashing Out Big Bucks for Pet Clones in China: Tomcat Becomes Mini-Me Tomcat
Cloned Pets in China: Duplicating Tomcats and Other Family Animals - China's Cloning Advancements: Domestic Tomcat Duplicated as Little Tomcat
Hey there! If you've got a soft spot for your furry or feline friends, get ready to open your pockets wide. In China, people grappling with the pain of losing their beloved pets are turning to cloning as a comfort crutch - and it doesn't come cheap!
According to the South China Morning Post, the cost of cloning a pet generally falls between 150,000 to 380,000 yuan. That's roughly 19,000 to 48,000 euros! Several providers are offering this legally available service in China, with both cats and dogs hitting the cloning tables.
The buzz around pet cloning picked up after Chinese scientists successfully cloned a dog named Longlong in 2017. Two years later, Garlic, China's first cloned cat, joined the scene, further bringing the topic into public consciousness.
Since then, there have been several reports of pet owners sharing their experiences with cloning services. For instance, a designer from Beijing opted to clone her 15-year-long furry companion, Tomcat. Following his demise, a cloning company promptly snatched some skin samples and used the cell with Tomcat's DNA for the cloning process. After failing twice with a surrogate mother cat, she welcomed her mini-Me, "Little Tomcat."
But, not everyone cheers this development. Critics cite concerns about the welfare of surrogate animals and point to the high likelihood of failures causing unnecessary stress to the animals involved. Pet owners, on the other hand, find a semblance of solace in the chance to hug their departed companions once more.
One Hangzhou resident even had her Dobermann, Joker, cloned after he succumbed to heart issues at the tender age of 11. The resulting canine looked remarkably similar to Joker, complete with a black mark near the nose.
While the Chinese public may empathize with pet owners, there's also a significant amount of criticism swirling around social media. Some commenters highlight the potential suffering of surrogate animals in the cloning process.
Pet cloning isn't free of controversy elsewhere, either. In Germany, cloned genetically modified pigs are bred to serve as future organ donors or experimental guinea pigs for the pharmaceutical industry.
The cloned sheep Dolly was the first exact replica of a mammal, born on July 5, 1996, and named after the country singer Dolly Parton.
Enrichment Insights:The ethical implications of pet cloning in China, specifically regarding animal welfare, are complex and debatable. Animal welfare advocates caution about the potential harm inflicted on surrogate animals and criticize the process as irresponsible and selfish. Unsuccessful cloning attempts, unhealthy cloned pets, and the manipulation of the natural order of life also raise ethical concerns. Regulations mandate that commercial pet cloning in China adhere to certain standards, but public opinion remains divided. Some view cloning as a means to cope with loss, while others consider it inhumane and question its ethical validity.
- In the realm of pharmaceutical research, Germany is known for breeding cloned genetically modified pigs, a practice that draws warnings due to their potential use as future organ donors or experimental animals.
- As China's pet cloning industry continues to expand, environmentally-conscious community policies need to address the welfare of surrogate animals involved in the cloning process, considering the high likelihood of failures and their impact on the animals.
- Animals, like the designer's 15-year-long companion Tomcat and the Dobermann, Joker, have been cloned in China, with the latter's clone being genetically modified, raising ethical questions about manipulating the natural order of life and the well-being of cloned animals.
