REFUSING TO LET GO
Despite the improving healthcare and pet insurance that has been popular recently, all pet owners know — though are unwilling to accept — that death is eventually inescapable. While most just let go of their furry friends and pray against all odds that they may be reunited in the next lifetime, some people take matters into their own hands and spare no expense in trying to keep their pets by their side through the process of cloning.
American retiree Davis Hawn is one such owner who refuses to abide by life’s inevitables. He is now the proud owner of two labrador retriever pups — named Boosted and Busted — that were cloned from his beloved service dog Booster, now deceased.
Hawn is very passionate about his canine pals, especially Booster, whose companionship turned his life around when he fell into dangerous depression years ago.
“[Booster] was my rock,” wrote Hawn in his email. “When he died, in a way, I died.”
Now, Hawn occupies his life with the fascination of the young clones he received from Sooam Biotech, an animal cloning facility in Seoul, South Korea. The cost of cloning a dog is about US$100,000 (3.5 million baht). Needless to say this budget surpasses the cost of buying new dogs or even the cost of breeding.
While breeding pets is a cheaper and more “natural” alternative for a pet replacement, it didn’t feel the same for Hawn. He actually bred Booster and discovered the pup he got from breeding inherited bad genes, which he found to be a waste of time and money.
However, he claimed his cloned pups are exhibiting “previous life traits” of the late Booster. Aside from similarities in looks, Boosted and Busted lack aggression and excel at tasks like opening the refrigerator, fetching Hawn water, turning on light switches and even walking in between people’s legs asking for a butt scratch — the many small things Booster used to do.
“It is often said you can’t clone personality, but in this case, it’s very close. It’s like getting the same ingredients to make a cake,” explained Hawn. He also denied he’s playing God, as he was accused by many. He rather views the process as “photocopying” God’s creation.
Giving scientific explanation with regard to cloning is veterinarian Dr Anawat Sangmalee — lecturer at the Department of Large Animal and Wildlife Clinical Sciences at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kasetsart University — who said a photocopy is one way to describe a clone. Cloned animals are genetically the same as their originals, but they’re also completely new beings on their own. While they may look the mirror image, their personality isn’t clone-able.
“Personality is moulded from how animals are raised. And even in the same environment, animals do respond and develop differently. Some owners may eventually find and realise that their new pets aren’t the same as the ones they once loved,” said Anawat.
“Still, in some cases, if the clones live in the same environment and receive the same treatment as the original, and if they also happen to possess similar learning processes and responses, then they could grow up with a personality similar to the original.”
In countries like the US and Brazil, some livestock are cloned for their meat and milk. News also broke last year that China was looking to clone their cattle to meet rising consumer demand. Anawat believes the facility in Seoul is one of a few that has gone fully commercial, and is possibly the only one that can clone dogs with a guaranteed success rate.
In Thailand, Anawat further reported that Assoc Prof Dr Rangsun Parnpai’s team at Suranaree University of Technology in Nakhon Ratchasima has been cloning animals, like cats and cows, for years but for academic purposes only. While cloning is not mentioned in the Thai Animal Welfare Bill, it is regarded as a scientific experiment and hence the procedure is reserved for educational and research purposes only. So far, there has been no commercial attempt of it in the country, yet.