People who can’t deal with the loss of their pets are resorting to an unconventional and expensive solution — pet cloning.
John Mendola, a New York police officer turned to the unusual practice when his pet Shih Apso was diagnosed with cancer . Mendola sought the help of Texas-based company called ViaGen Pets and Equine, the first and only US firm to offer commercial cloning of dogs and cats.Their service also extends to the UK.
Since 2018, ViaGen has partnered with British-based Gemini Genetics to offer animal tissue and cell preservation services for genetic banking purposes, including dog cloning, cat cloning and horse cloning.INTERESTING FACT ABOUT YOUR PET: Spiked collars were originally fashioned in ancient Greece to protect dogs’ throats from wolf attacks.
Breathe easy. In addition to sweating through their paw pads, dogs pant to cool themselves off. A panting dog can take 300-400 breaths (compared to his regular 30-40) with very little effort.
The cloning of pets is controversial, but growing in popularity despite its high cost, especially among the rich and famous.
In 2018, Barbra Streisand disclosed that she had used ViaGen to clone two puppies from her former pet Samantha. The same year, The Sun reported that music mogul Simon Cowell was ‘100 per cent cloning’ his three Yorkshire terriers.While people have always loved their pets, pandemic lockdowns have made them more attached to their furry companions than ever before.
‘We’ve always loved our pets but I think the same way that the pandemic made or broke relationships, it transformed the relationship humans have with their pets as well. We’re now a lot more invested in them than we were before,’ said Tara Mahboub, founder of EveryPet, a startup for preventative pet healthcare.Socialize your pet. Meeting new people and other pets improves the confidence of your pet. Plus, having extra playmates will help relieve some of your pet’s built-up energy.
This could translate into shelling out exorbitant amounts to have their pets around longer.
‘As someone who’s had their dog for 5 years, for most of us, the pet was our lifeline and I guess now that we’re out of lockdown, there’s a bit of over-compensating for the time we can’t spend with our pets anymore and that manifests in the form of spending, wether it’s on accessories or tech to keep them healthier or fancy organic food,’ said Mahboub.While it seems like a stretch from fancy food, some pet owners might still go the distance and choose to have their pets cloned if they could afford it.
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