Pet Cloning is Good for You!

If you have ever had a pet, you understand the strong bonds that form between animal lovers and their pets. They are bonds that are reinforced by biology, as hormones are released during bonding. These hormones are natural and beneficial. When your pet means that much to you, it is only natural to want to consider cloning your pet when it is gone. Pet cloning is an effective way to continue an important and loving relationship.

On the Calgary Herald website, Robin S. explains how bonds are formed between people and their pets. She says,

This rush of feelings and emotions is perfectly normal and biological in nature. After playing with their dog, owners feel the same surge of emotion associated with romance or a mother's love, Japanese researchers recently found. It's called the "love drug" --Azuba University biologists Miho Nagasawa and Takefumi Kikusui believe the hormone oxytocin is released. Oxytocin also reduces stress and can fight depression.

She goes on to describe the experiment Miho Nagasawa and Takefumi Kikusui performed to prove this theory. They studied dog owners and their dogs during play. Their results demonstrated the significance of the bond between human and pet.

Owners who locked gaze with their dogs for an average of 2.5 minutes per playtime saw a 20 per cent spike in their oxytocin levels versus owners who spent less than 45 seconds meeting eyes with their animals, their study revealed. The so-called long-gaze owners also defined their relationship with their dog as better than the short gazers.

Clearly, pets enhance the quality of life of pet owners. As the bonds between pets and owners increase production of a hormone that enhances the physical and mental health of the owner, pet cloning is perfectly justifiable.

Opponents of pet cloning may point out that you can adopt a pet from a shelter instead of cloning your pet. The problem with this theory, though, is that it is the connection between a human and a specific, beloved pet that causes positive effects. Thus, cloning your pet may be a valuable service in maintaining your mental and physical health.

Profiles of Cloned Dogs

The cloning of pets is still a very new technology, but already some very worthy pets have been cloned and successful clone pets have been created. In a demonstration of the best possible use of this emerging technology, cloning companies are creating clone pets of dogs that have enriched, aided, and even saved lives. The genetic makeup of the original dogs, along with careful training, has made them into intelligent and hard-working worker dogs. Using their genetic makeup to create clone pets increases the likelihood that these cloned dogs will have the same aptitude for their work. These cloned dogs will be raised and trained to help humans, and chances are that they will be just as valuable to humans as their genetic donors.

Trakr: Trakr was the heroic dog who located the last human survivor in the wreckage of the World Trade Center disaster. He died due to a neurological disorder that was likely caused by the toxic conditions of the wreckage. Before he died, though, BioArts International named him the most “clone-worthy” dog and offered to clone him free of charge. Trakr's owner says that he plans to train Trakr's clone as a rescue dog.

Booger: When Booger's owner was attacked by a vicious dog, he saved her life. In addition, he helped her to recover. Though he was not trained as a service dog, he taught himself to help her perform everyday tasks. Booger's owner decided to have him cloned after he died. She had five cloned dogs created, kept three as her own, and donated two as service dogs.

Toppies: The Toppies are seven puppies named Toppy who were cloned from Chase, a Korean sniffer dog. This instance is an important example of clone pets because the puppies have proven that dogs cloned from skilled worker dogs are easier to train as worker dogs. The manager of the project that produced the cloned dogs maintains that it is easier to train these puppies than it is to train ordinary dogs.

Cloning Like Breeding

It is ridiculous to oppose cloning of pets when breeding is as widely accepted as it is in our culture. Breeding is a process that is completely controlled by humans and has been conducted for centuries. Breeders can choose the features that allow animals to fit their criteria and maximize their potential. Those are exactly the reasons that some pet cloning companies give for creating clone dogs. Thus, if breeding of pets is acceptable to our society, then so must be cloning of pets.

Pet cloning and breeding are similar in that humans control the genetic makeup of animals born through the processes. A website called NetPets says, “Breeds must not be confused with species or even subspecies, which occur naturally under the influence of natural selection...An important characteristic of breeds is that they are created by breeders.” Clone dogs can be described similarly; they are purposely created by man with specific genetic parameters.

Clearly, breeding is genetic manipulation that would not happen without human interference. That does not mean that the process is a bad one. The site goes on to state, “At the very least we should all have clean consciences once again, knowing that we were making our best efforts, using up-to-date genetic knowledge, to produce sane, healthy, robust canine companions.” This article describes dog breeding, but the process is used on other animals and for many purposes. In farm animals, breeding increases efficiency, and in breeding of any kind of animal, the purpose is to ensure that certain genetic traits are passed on.

Just as breeding is useful to humans, so is cloning of pets. Pet cloning, like breeding, allows animals to reach their full potential. Clone dogs, like their bred counterparts, are born with genes to be utilized for specific purposes. Pet cloning will prove to be just as useful to this society as has breeding.