Trakr: A Hero's Legacy Continues

On the morning of September 12, 2001, James Symington and his dog, Trakr, arrived at Ground Zero in New York City. Trakr and Symington, a former Canadian police officer, were among the first volunteer rescue teams to arrive on the scene after the World Trade Center attacks, and Trakr is credited with finding the last survivor in the rubble. In recognition of his outstanding achievement, the California cloning company BioArts International has chosen Trakr as the worthiest dog to be cloned. They have offered Symington the opportunity to receive free pet cloning services.

Trakr has come to the end of his impressive career. In 1995, he and Symington launched the first canine police unit in Halifax. The two spent six years there before their heroic efforts at Ground Zero. Sadly, Trakr has developed a degenerative neurological condition that has inhibited use of his hind legs and may have been caused by toxic conditions at the World Trade Center site.

BioArts is attempting to extend Trakr's legacy through the cloning process. On their Best Friends Again website they say, “Cloning the best working dogs can potentially improve the efficiency of working dog breeding programs.” Although Trakr's clone's characteristics will be formed by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, BioArts maintains that a genetic predisposition to “the right mix of sensitivity, intelligence, temperament, and other qualities” increases chances that with the right training, a clone of an outstanding working dog will follow in its predecessor's footsteps. Essentially, cloning animals results in animals more likely to achieve success in certain lines of duty.

This development offers exciting opportunities to benefit people and society and makes an excellent argument for animal cloning. In South Korea, seven dogs were cloned for police work last year. All seven passed a behavior test that determines genetic qualification for this type of work, whereas the average passage rate for naturally born dogs is 10-15%. Being able to control the genetic information of a dog through the cloning process will allow experts to increase populations of dogs suited to certain kinds of work, such as search and rescue, detection of certain materials, and aiding disabled humans. That means pet cloning has the potential to turn Man's Best Friend into humankind's greatest ally, helper, and hero.