The unsettling truth about cloning your pet

Would you clone your pet?  While flipping through a magazine for pet lovers, I came across an advertisement offering to clone my pet, and it took me down a rabbit hole of curiosity.  I do understand the desire to keep our beloved pets with us forever, but cloning?  Is that even real?  As I read deeper into the topic, I found compelling reasons against cloning pets including the endorsement of unethical practices, the creation of unrealistic expectations, and the lack of support for millions of homeless animals.  In this post, I’ll give a very brief overview of the cloning process and then explore the concerns of cloning your pet in more detail.

The very basics of how cloning works (I am clearly not a scientist!)

I have been reading up on cloning, and the process is not at all how I imagined it.  The DNA from the original pet is only one part of the process.  In order to create a clone, you need a surrogate mother.  Eggs are taken from the surrogate mother, the DNA is removed, and the DNA of the animal to be cloned is inserted.  The now fertilized egg is reinserted into the mother in hopes that she can carry the animal to term and deliver a healthy baby- a copy of the beloved pet.   The first cat was cloned in 2005. (Schmidt, 2021)

The unsettling part:

The part that I hadn’t considered when I first saw an advertisement for cloning is what all is involved in creating a healthy cloned animal.  Animals who serve as surrogates must always be ready to be mothers to potential clones.  This means that they are regularly given hormones to keep them available for this purpose.  I have also learned that the proportion of embryos that result in healthy offspring is about 2-3% (Palacios).  This means that to create a healthy clone of a kitten or puppy, many must be created.    

Cloning labs share some similarities with puppy mills

If you are an animal lover, you are probably familiar with the concept of a puppy mill.  If you aren’t familiar, a puppy mill is a commercial breeding facility.  Dogs are bred and sold with the focus being on profit rather than animal welfare.  Some of the arguments against these places are that the dogs used for breeding suffer both physically and psychologically as a result of being constantly bred.  Another problem is that often the puppies born have genetic defects, diseases, or long-term health problems.  With puppy mills also come even more animals put into the population while millions of homeless animals are in need of homes.   While a laboratory is slightly different from a puppy mill, many of the concerns are the same.  In particular, the concerns over the welfare of the surrogate mothers, the multiple animals that must be created to achieve one healthy clone- what happens to the other offspring?  This is not something that most cloning companies are very open about. It seems to me that a company that will create a copy of an animal for $25,000 or more is focused on the profit rather than the well-being of either the clone or the surrogate.     

Unrealistic expectations

The nature vs. nurture debate is going to play a key role when discussing pet cloning.  I’m sure most people who would consider cloning a pet would do so because they really love their pet and want to hold onto that bond they share.  Unfortunately, I really think it’s important to remember that a clone isn’t an exact replica of the original because personality and behavior are affected by life experiences as well as genetics. 

I found it very interesting to read that the first cloned cat, CC didn’t look like its genetic donor, Rainbow.  Reading articles about the cloned kitten taught me that cat genes express themselves based on many factors, including the womb environment, and nutrients that the mother receives while the fetus is developing. (Richman et al., 2015).  The mother of the cloned kitten will inevitably behave differently from the original cat’s mother, and it would be impossible to replicate all the experiences that the original cat had growing up.  You will have a genetic twin of your furbaby, but the personality certainly will not be the same. 

Cloning companies like Viagen do acknowledge these differences.  On Viagen’s FAQ on their website, they state, “The new puppies and kittens will be the same sex as the donor, but just as it is in nature, may have slight phenotypic differences, such as different markings due to natural epigenetic factors.  The environment does interact with genetics to impact many traits such as personality and behavior.” (Viagen 2022)   

The overlooked potential of adoption

Anyone in animal rescue is well aware of the millions of amazing animals searching for loving homes. It truly breaks my heart to imagine someone spending $25,000 or more to create a cloned pet while countless others are euthanized because there just aren’t enough homes for unwanted pets.  These are perfectly loveable and deserving of care.

I understand that some people really only want purebred pets, but they can be found in shelters and animal control facilities across the country.  An animal that is rescued seems to know that it’s been rescued.  The bond is extremely strong between rescue pets, and instead of trying to recreate a bond that existed with a beloved pet that is no longer here, honoring their memory by providing a home to an animal in need is a much more compassionate option. 

Conclusion

By cloning a pet, we are effectively paying someone to create suffering.  The surrogate mothers suffer constant hormones and constant pregnancies that have at best a 3% success rate.  Can you imagine constantly losing your babies like this?  The suffering continues with the animals that are born but aren’t completely healthy- they will just be euthanized after a short life of suffering.  What happens if there is more than one healthy clone- does it end up euthanized or in a shelter?  Which is preferable? 

If you are considering cloning your pet, I encourage you to donate that money to a reputable shelter and go there and meet the animals. I’m positive that you will find a lovely companion that you can adopt in honor of the one you miss. 

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