Rover's return: now dog owners can conquer grief with a £37,000 clone

A Shropshire laboratory is taking skin samples so that beloved pets can be cloned and given a new lease of life

- James Tapper

Tauron, a dog of unknown pedigree, died defending his master Zenon from a wild boar, and the third century BC Greek bureaucrat repaid his courage by burying him with an 11-line epitaph detailing how the dog had "made a gift of the beast to Hades and died himself".

Modern Zenons have more options for their memorials. Pet cloning is here, and growing numbers of owners are trying not to lose their faithful companions at all.

Gemini Genetics is expanding to cope with demand from people in the UK and Europe looking to take the first step towards replacing their dog, cat or horse with a genetic replica.

The lab in Shropshire has 6,000 samples stored cryogenically at -196C and the rate of new customers has increased to about two each week, says Gemini’s manager, Lucy Morgan. “We've just purchased a second laboratory space and office space,” she said. “We're definitely growing.”

Cloning is in effect banned for commercial purposes in the UK as it is treated as animal experimentation and needs Home Office approval.