Pet Cloning
One new thing that is become a topic of debate is the use of cloning to allow people to have the same pet over and over again. The article talks about a man who is walking dogs and is talking to a woman and he tells her they are clones. She thinks the man I joking. The three puppies were created in a commercial animal laboratory in Korea. They were created from tissue that was collected in the 1990’s. These dogs were the end result of a 10 year project costing around $25 million. This makes them the most expensive pets in the world. Hawthorne is offering the opportunity for five pet owners to get their pets cloned. The pet owners who wished to do so had to by their way into the cloning. The opening bid started at $100,000 and they went for $140,000 to $170,000.
The idea of changing pets or forming them to the way we want is not a new idea. This has been going on for the last 15,000 years. The reason why dogs are so loved and easily changed is because of their malleability. If it was not so easy to change them they would still be running around in the wild as wolves. Cloning is the next step in a process that is going on since the late Paleolithic era. This allows pet owners new possibilities. If you have a pet and you really like it you can go to a breeder and get very similar genetics but if you neutered your dog this is not possible. This is where cloning steps in and offers a new option to those pet owners.
One reason people are looking into this idea is the varieties of mixed breeds. There are so many variations of breeds and if someone finds a combination that they like and they want to keep it cloning is an option for them to be able to keep having dog of that variation. I know many people where they had bought a mixed mutt and they wish they could get a dog just like it again and they tried finding that variation again but just couldn’t find one.
Hawthorne says that cloning is not reincarnation, but its more than just similar markings. He thought that his first clone would just be all about looks and maybe someday behavioral similarities. Hawthorne said that “it’s a much more visceral experience than that-the feel, the smell. When they first handed me Mira in Korea, you could see the look of genuine astonishment on my face.�(1). Cloning is one way to make people happy and increase their happiness in their life.
I currently have mixed feelings about this new technology. I feel that it is a good thing for people to be able to be happy. If people are willing to pay the big price tag to be happy that is their choice. The only thing that worries is the number of dogs it takes to make just one clone. They have to use multiple dogs for each step in the process. This is causing a lot of debate amongst the people are who are really worried about animal rights. I feel that if they allow cloning to continue they should put strong regulations on what they can and cannot do. Also they should regulate how the dogs are treated.
On the other hand I feel that we do not need to breed more cats and dogs. The U.S. is currently over populated with pets. Everyday there are more than 50,000 puppies and kittens born each day. For every pet that has a home there are four companion animals that are homeless, neglected, or abused. Animal shelters are over flooded with pets and are having to put them down to make room. 30 to 60 percent of America’s animal shelters have to put animals down each year; this is roughly 4 to 6 million animals (2). I know that this service will make many people happy, but it will only be the rich people who can afford it. The average Joe blow will not be able to afford to clone his dog fluffy. Unless they get they get new technology to lower the cost of doing this cloning. Eventually there will be common practices all over the United States and the world offering this service to the average person but until then it will be for only those who have the money to spend on a clone. The only issue that I feel will be the biggest topic of debate over this is the ethical rights to do this and the amount of animals it takes to make one clone.
Sources:
1) http://www.reason.com/news/show/128654.html
2) http://www.dogsonly.org/DogPopulation.html
Comments
Cloning animals has opened many different possibilities for the future of genetic research. However, we must consider carefully how we integrate into mainstream society. You statement talks about the overcrowding in animal shelters and the effect cloning will have on it. While this is a major problem to be solved in the future, scientists are skeptical that overcrowding will have a very large affect on cloning. Many specialists don't believe overcrowding to be much of an issue with animal cloning due to the fact that only a small portion of the population in the United States can afford to clone their pets which would not cause a large effect of overcrowding in shelters. They also say that it would in fact help the pet population because with cloning it would no longer be necessary to breed in order to produce more animals.
The main problem than many cognitive psychologists see in the cloning of animals is the decreased attachment the owners have with their pets. If getting the same dog is simply a matter of cloning another one pets will become as disposable as cell phones. The psychologists say that one of the many reasons we love our pets is that they are indispensible and that if we have the same animal repeatedly we make care less for them. I think that we are a long way from this event, but that we must still watch how we use cloning for what we believe to be the greater good.
http://www.centralpets.com/php/search/storiesdisplay.php?Story=96
http://www.messybeast.com/clonecat.htm
Posted by: Alex Lager | November 21, 2008 12:46 AM
Alex’s point of the “disposable pet� effect of the cloning system is a realistic future outcome of cloning. The real concern however is even farther down the road. Should the technology of cloning become a norm and advance, other even more serious problems could also arise. My main concern would be the evolution of a societal acceptance of human cloning after years of cloning animals. Presently the cloning of the human beings is unethical for one reason or another. These reasons preventing the technology from advancing to its full potential are vulnerable to change and cannot be relied upon to prevent the values of society from evolving. Just as Alex indicated that pets would eventually become unimportant and inevitably disposable, the very same pattern could potentially translate in the cases of human clones. If human life becomes invaluable, an even farther extreme could be reached. This cloning technology could lead to modifications in the other parts of life such as war, education, or reproduction as we know it. The effects of pet cloning are not a simple concern. Although the most extreme affects of the process seem to be dated far into the future it would be foolish to not anticipate these repercussions. The real question that needs to be addressed is whether or not the consequences of the technology are worth the risk of the development of the technology. If cloning has the potential to completely change society for the worse, pet cloning seems unnecessary.
Posted by: Shannon Reger | November 23, 2008 5:46 PM