Dog Cloning

Just watched a show about people cloning their dogs. It cost these people $157000US. They say 1 out of 4 dog owners would do it (if cost was not an issue).
The owners of the clone say he sits the same as their old dog and acts like their first dog. They were speaking as if they had not lost thier "original" dog Lancelot. I get that the loss of their dog was devastating and they wanted him back but is cloning the answer?
A cat cost $50000US and now has its own house!!!!!
They cloned horses too. Cutting champions, now the owners say the cloned horses aren't as good as they don't have the same heart and soul and wouldn't do it again.
What is your thoughts?

Not for me, no matter how fantastic my dog may be they are all individuals and unique and that's the way I like it. I think sometimes grief turns into an obsession and that's not healthy.
I was devastated when my Boxer died over 10 years ago, he was 13 had a fab life etc. It was time but obviously it hurt like hell, but he couldn't be replaced with a clone of him, it wouldn't be him just because it looked and sat like him. I went off on a tangent and couldn't have had another Boxer at all at the time, it would have been too painful. Each to their own though.

This is a very cruel and selfish fad. Think of the breeding bitches being put through these experimental procedures, and all the `failures` - let alone all the aborted litters and euthanised puppies who don`t make the grade.
Cloning is not an exact science. I hope it stays this expensive.

Canines are considered one of the more difficult mammals to clone because of their reproductive cycle that includes difficult-to-predict ovulations.

Scores of dogs have been cloned using so-called somatic cell nuclear transfer, a technique for hollowing out the nucleus of a donor egg and injecting it with the donor's genetic material, which is typically skin tissue taken from the ear.

Ra said stem cells from fat tissue are far easier to reprogram and there is about a 20 percent chance a manipulated cell will result in a clone, an improvement over the previous method where the success rate was in the single digits.
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On the heels of a U.S. company's announcement that it will auction off five dog clonings to the general public next month, two prominent animal welfare organizations have released a report documenting the cruelty inherent in the practice.

Earlier this week, BioArts International of California unveiled what it calls the "Best Friends Again" program, which aims to replicate five family dogs. Bidding will start at $100,000 and begins June 18.

BioArts is undertaking the project with the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation in South Korea, where one of the principal scientists is Hwang Woo Suk. In 2004, a team led by Dr. Hwang reported that it had made cloned human embryos and stem cells -- claims later found to be fraudulent.

Shortly after BioArts' announcement, the Humane Society of the United States and the American Anti-Vivisection Society released a report titled "Buyers Beware: Pet Cloning Is Not for Pet Lovers."

"It is time for would-be pet cloners to be revealed for what they are -- hucksters who have been involved in questionable activities, including preying upon people who have developed a strong bond with a beloved pet," says Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS.

The study shows that more than 99 percent of cloning attempts reported in scientific journals failed to produce a healthy animal. Researchers subjected more than 530 dogs and cats to invasive and painful procedures including hormone treatments and surgeries to produce just five cloned dogs and 11 cloned cats that survived more than 30 days. The HSUS/AAVS report also raises concerns about the fact that the U.S. pet cloning industry is not regulated like other research facilities that experiment on animals.

This is just wrong on so many levels. For me, anyway

No, its selfish and immoral imo.... Having just lost a very beloved dog, would I want her clone sitting here acting like her? Hell no... she was her and one day when painful grief subsides and happy memories takes its place... I will smile instead of cry. Every animal/person is solely unique...

No, morally wrong, and not jus tin dogs either.

I can't think of a better way to shrink our depleted gene pools even further.

I wouldn't want it, each dog has thier own unique way, and I'd like it to stay like that

I think it's disgusting and it also detracts from their uniqueness. I lost my boxer 2 years ago, and recall lots of happy fond memories of him. For me he was my one and only Calvin.

i dont like it, and i really dont know why people would want to do that...