California company sells cloned cat, generating ethics debate

[davidinalameda]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/12/22/state1724EST0109.DTL

The first cloned-to-order pet sold in the United States is named Little Nicky, an eight-week-old kitten delivered to a Texas woman saddened by the loss of a cat she had owned for 17 years.

The kitten cost its owner $50,000 and was cloned from a beloved cat, named Nicky, that died last year. Nicky's owner banked the cat's DNA, which was used to create the clone.

"He is identical. His personality is the same," the woman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.



Stepford Cats

:scared:

[BlueEyedSon]

1. How can an 8 week old cat have the same personality as an adult cat?

Did it come out of the test-tube litter trained?

[davidinalameda]

15. most kittens train themselves

I've never had to train one in all the years that I've had cats

[SharonAnn]

19. I have one cat who had his distinct purrsonality at 8 weeks and has

had it ever since. I've had cats all my life (and I have four right now) and if they have a distinctive purrsonality it shows up right away.

[Caution]

2. beyond belief creepy n/t

[Placebo]

3. That's great news!

I just hope it becomes more affordable.

Just think, you'll never have to lose your beloved kitty!

[Sandpiper]

4. The genie's already out of the bottle on cloning

Either we can accept the reality and thoughtfully create laws governing its use, or we can bury our heads in the sand and pretend that banning it will actually stop it.

[7th_Sephiroth]

5. you been watching

the 6th day, havent you

[Sandpiper]

6. Actually no

What is it?

[7th_Sephiroth]

9. schwartzenegger movie with cloning

they have a store you take a dead or dieing pet and they clone it and you get it back like the pet never died

[DireStrike]

7. That's terrible.

With $50,000 she could have saved hundreds of strays, and more than one would have been as loving as "little Nicky".

Interesting that the animal has the same name as the spawn of Satan from an Adam Sandler movie.

[purduejake]

14. Agreed, it's horrible but it's her money...

and at least she isn't doing anything too bad with it. I just hope she got the damned cat fixed.

[madinmaryland]

29. I agree.

What a horrible waste of money when she could have adopted one of the many cats at her local animal shelter.

Imagine how many people could have been fed or given shelter with $50,000. The is no end to the ways that $50K could have been used to benefit her community.

Oh silly me, this is George Bush's amurka.

:argh:

[Liberal Veteran]

8. Crap...I knew I should have kept some of Mariko's DNA!

Now it's too late!

[Ian David]

10. I'm going to clone my cat Damien!!!

[txaslftist]

11. stepford cats! LOL.

[bluedonkey]

12. That's what the world needs!

Like we don't have enough real cats!
I lost my fav cat 17 years ago and I thought I was going to die myself,I missed him so much.I still do!
On election night my beautiful Tasha died and it broke my heart.
Everytime one of my cats,dogs,or dragons die I die a little,too.But I would never,ever have one of them cloned!
There are too many out there who need a home,love or just a meal to get them through another day.
Death is part of our lives and as hard as it is for the ones who are left behind,it's reality.
Cloning is just sick!

[scarletlib]

27. yes, that's my thought too

There are so many cats and dogs who need homes it seems sort of silly to clone one. I wish she would have gone looking for a new pet to replace her lost loved one.

I am a cat lover and have had many over the years. I mourn the loss of each one but would never want to clone one. Each one just like us has its own personality. I just would not want to replicate that even if I could. I guess in a way it lessens the life of the prior cat. Do you get what I mean? THese are living beings deserving of our respect.

[KansDem]

13. "Ethics debate?"

If it makes money, it's "good;" it not, it's "bad."

So what's the problem? Haven't we learned ANYTHING from 10 years of GOP control of Congress and the Supreme Court, or 4 years of BushCo?

C'mon, folks! Learn GOP ethic$. It makes life soooo easy...:crazy:

[Dem2theMax]

17. OT. You've got the makings of a good bumper sticker there.

'GOP ethic$.' I like that. A lot! :)

[Eurobabe]

16. As much as I love my orange furkid

I don't think I would want to clone him. I have a fundamental problem with this on an ethical level.

[lawladyprof]

18. I thought about this when I lost my beloved Sheltie

When I say "thought about" I don't mean seriously to do it, but thought about it in the sense of "Would I do that if I could?" He was hit by a car, and it was my fault. But even though I would have the physical Sarge, my dogs are, like people, part genetics and part the personality that comes from their experiences and interaction with the world. A cloned Sarge would look my Sarge but it wouldn't really BE him.

[HuffleClaw]

20. miaow !

50 K for a CAT ???!!! oh my. thats a lot of, er, scratch.

[tblue37]

21. I have saved clippings from all my pets over the years.

Just in case.

[damntexdem]

22. Herehere kittykitty kittykitty.

me - wow

[VegasWolf]

23. Prices should come down to the 1000 dollar range as the vets

jump on this lucrative opportunity.

[saracat]

24. Oh, my! I would do it in a hot second!

And I know i'm gonna get flamed but I really don't have a problem with cloning people either! It is a little strange but the more I think about it the more intriging it becomes. Opps, I'm ducking:scared:

[Dirk39]

26. You don't have to...

you will just fall asleep and wake up in a world with Millions of G.W.BushI and 100 Million of G.W. BushII and 200.09000.000 Million cat-owning Texan Ladies. And 6666.0000.00000 million cats, who did just pray to god to rather die than be owned and cloned by Texan Ladies ever again.
That's the way, dreams come true as nightmares.
But it's too late in Germany,
Dirk

[LostinVA]

28. I would too, saracat!

Would it be the same exact animal? No. But it would be close. She would still be sweet and playful and funny. My kitty's personality was very distinct when she was tiny. Flame away!

[Dirk39]

25. 100.000 beloved Iraqis multiplied with $50,000 Dollars,...

O.K., I know Iraqis dead Iraqis are worth about 1.000,- Dollars, while victims of 9-11 are worth about 3.000.000,- Dollars.

Live must really be hell for that cat. She lived a live in hell one time, and now the promised land revealed to be the same hell again. Only the worst in history seems to be repeated.
If in any of my lives I become a killer, I want to kill that Texas Lady. Hey, it's not a problem! Someone will clone that human garbage and she will just be repeated and repeated and repeated and cloned.

Beam me up Scotty,
Uncloned in Germany,
Dirk

[demnan]

30. It's a bad idea

cloning produces an animal that will age quicker and not be as healthy as the first animal. While I have loved all my cats I wouldn't want to subject them to the vet just so I could get a DNA sample from them to make a twin of them - not with all the animals out there who need homes.