Pet Cloning Not Banned
I already knew that California is home to the country’s first cat clinic, having driven my roommate there for her pet’s annual checkup. Today I learned that it is also home to the world’s first commercial provider of cloned cats, whose business the state has just decided not to prohibit.
I don’t see anything wrong with “vanity pets” per se, if they provide comfort to a bereaved owner, or allow allergy sufferers to own pets, but it sounds like the anti-cloning lobby has a point– as the article says, “[s]uccess comes only after many tries, leaving the guinea pigs either deformed or dead.” That’s a lot of needless pain and suffering for a comparatively trivial benefit.
On the other hand, sharing an apartment with Miranda, the most meowingest pet in the world, sometimes makes me re-think how the rules of morality are applied to non-humans, specifically as regards the proper course of action to take when one feels tempted to test the dictum about cats always landing on their feet…
Pet Cloning In California
You can say that again. You can say that again….
Trackback by Pet Channel — May 4, 2005 @ 6:23 am
Update: The cloning company has an FAQ which refutes the arguments of the anti-cloning lobby.
About well-being of clones: “As University of Pennsylvania bioethics professor Dr. Autumn Fiester explains, ‘Cloning science is advancing so rapidly that the survival rates and general health of clones are beginning to mirror animals naturally conceived — so this [argument] will soon be a non-starter.’”
The company also asserts that rather contributing to overpopulation (and at such a high price, that doesn’t seem like a significant concern), it is actually helping to reduce it because: “For research purposes, GSC requires large numbers of cat and dog ovaries, a waste product we purchase from spay clinics. To date GSC has paid over $350,000 to spay clinics across the country, funds they’ve used to spay thousands of dogs and cats. In addition, GSC has provided $315,000 to date to the University of Virginia Center for Research in Contraceptive and Reproductive Health, for development of an injectible sterilant for dogs and cats, which would greatly reduce the overhead of spay clinics worldwide.”
Interesting…
Comment by Administrator — May 5, 2005 @ 4:46 am