Couple need head examined, not a cloned dog!

[Kiwi]

How nuts is this!!!!!
Owners should get their examined and save the money instead of cloning this dog!!!

Cloning only copies the outside, not the personality!

Humble couple plans to clone dying dog
South Korean company charges $150,000

10:22 AM CST on Thursday, January 22, 2009
By Brad Woodard / 11 News

Jan. 21, 2009 HUMBLE, Texas -- A couple devastated at the pending loss of their beloved dog has decided to clone him with the help of a South Korean company.

Sybil and Collins Hooper say Fisher, their faithful canine companion of the past dozen years, has incurable cancer.

“I try not to cry in front of him, it upsets him so bad,” Sybil Hooper said.

She said they'll have to put Fisher down in a matter of days.

“Euthanasia is the only thing we can do to save him from terrible pain, but we’re going to try to save his cells and, maybe one day, have those cloned and have some more Fishers in our family,” Hooper said.

Before he dies, the Collins will have tissue samples taken from Fisher. They plan to ship the samples to a South Korean company that specializes in pet cloning.

“This first step costs $1,000 and that’s enough to get the samples taken, frozen and stored," Collins Hooper said. "They’re stored for $120 a year until we’re ready to go through the cloning process, which is rather expensive. It’s $150,000."

While the Hoopers are going ahead with their plans, not everyone agrees with the concept.

Aside from the fact that millions of unwanted animals have to be euthanized each year, critics say the very idea of pet cloning raises false hopes. They say that just because the two animals are genetically identical doesn’t mean they’ll look alike or even act alike.

“You’re not going to get Fluffy back again, and I think that’s the biggest misconception,” said Teri Schweiss with the Houston SPCA. “People think they’re going to have a mirror image of their most beloved pet!

Here is the article with pics and vids and readers comments..

 

[CHooperTX]

It's not nuts at all. It's something new that science has to offer.

Y'see, the problem with TV is that they edit things for time and effect. They left out the part of the interview where we said that 150K is too expensive, and that for now we are merely storing the tissue for $120.00 a year, until the price comes down to a more affordable range.

They also inaccurately say that I am Sybil's husband, when I am actually her son.

Also, we don't expect to get an exact copy of Fisher. We expect to get clones that share a genetic baseline and the many inherited traits that are passed down via DNA. From there it all depends on their training and life experiences whether they'll behave like Fisher, though I'm sure they will have much in common.

We have actually researched this choice quite a bit, and decided that if we were going to have this option at all then we needed to get Fisher's tissue stored now, as he has a very short time to live. That way we still have a choice, because if we wait until he was gone, cloning would not be possible.

Thanks.

 

[SouthernMdRocks]

It's not nuts at all. It's something new that science has to offer.

Y'see, the problem with TV is that they edit things for time and effect. They left out the part of the interview where we said that 150K is too expensive, and that for now we are merely storing the tissue for $120.00 a year, until the price comes down to a more affordable range.

They also inaccurately say that I am Sybil's husband, when I am actually her son.

Also, we don't expect to get an exact copy of Fisher. We expect to get clones that share a genetic baseline and the many inherited traits that are passed down via DNA. From there it all depends on their training and life experiences whether they'll behave like Fisher, though I'm sure they will have much in common.

We have actually researched this choice quite a bit, and decided that if we were going to have this option at all then we needed to get Fisher's tissue stored now, as he has a very short time to live. That way we still have a choice, because if we waiting til he was gone, cloning would not be possible.

Thanks.

Would this tissue also pass on the cancer cells or the genetics that lead to cancer?

 

[CHooperTX]

That is a possibility, though we don't know if Fisher's cancer was genetic, or caused by an external source. What we will have is forewarning, so that we will be on the look-out to catch it early in the clones, as well as taking preventative measures throughout their lives.