Why you should think twice about cloning your pet

It comes with health and welfare risks for the clones.

- Jacqueline Boyd

Pets just don’t live long enough. We spend time, emotion, energy and lots of money caring for them, all while knowing we'll invariably outlive them.

It’s unsurprising, then, that with the advent of cloning technologies, a growing number of people are exploring the potential of creating copies of their beloved pets.

When Dolly the sheep was born in 1997, it heralded a major breakthrough in our ability to successfully clone mammals. Since then, cloning has become big business — and celebrities such as former American footballer Tom Brady and singer and actress Barbra Streisand have reportedly cloned their pet dogs. This has prompted many pet owners to wonder whether their much-loved pets could be immortalised, too.

Creating copies of special pets might be a way to keep the deep bond between person and pet alive, especially since their loss can be devastating. But is cloning our pets a good idea?

Not only is cloning expensive, it potentially comes with health and welfare risks for the clones.

There’s also a very high chance that your cloned pet might be nothing like your original - in personality, behaviour and appearance.

The African clawed frog was the first vertebrate to be cloned in the early 1960s. Since then, a range of species, including mice, ferrets, sheep, horses, dogs, cattle and cats, have been successfully cloned.

The basic principle of cloning is to make an exact genetic replica of an organism. In the same way that identical twins have the same genetic profile, animal clones are genetically identical to the “parent” animal from which the genetic material is obtained.