I cloned my pet! TV Show

[Lorraine Bromley]

I watched this TV show for the first time. If anyone hasn't seen it, it was about three people who had paid 50,000$ to clone  their dogs. This was done in Korea with the use of surrogate mothers. Up to five surrogates were used for each clone. One person used a dog whisperer to see if it was the same dog with memories of its former life. Apparently the puppy did remember his past life. Each person seemed to have the idea that the cloned dog would have memories of the original dog. It brought up some questions with me regarding the surrogates and where they come from and what is their life entail before and after becoming surrogates. The laws for animals in Korea may or may not be the best in the world either. Then the pressure of the new puppies to be exactly like the original dog. We all know that we forget just how much work it was to potty train and obedience train our dogs and  the effort we put into our dogs does make the difference in how well they respond. 

I would not want to have my dog cloned. I don't think that the love I felt for that individual dog could be replicated. I would also look forward to having a new friendship with a new and unique furry friend. But these people on the show were obviously on the other end of the scale to me and showed it by paying an extreme amount of money to do so.

I know we are all doodle crazy, does this extend to cloning our doodles?

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

there was a discussion about this show last week sometime. I managed to get sucked into that episode with the dog wisperer and the whole thing left me feeling sad for humanity. I've never seen anything crazier than this. It was so absurd. Of course they don't have memories of the animals they were cloned after, and if they did, there is no such thing as a dog whisperer who can telepathically communicate with a dog to determine what it is thinking, unless puppies are born with the ability to speak english but only telepathically.

 

I've never seen anything more absurd than this in my whole life. I can't believe people are wasting money on cloning a dog when there are so many animals and people in the world who are suffering and could use support. Just think of all the doodles that could be saved with that $50,000 fee per dog. The whole thing is sick sick sick. Why don't they make a reality tv show about something meaningful like rescuing dogs and finding them good homes???

 

ok, I'm stepping off my soap box now.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

"Why don't they make a reality tv show about something meaningful like rescuing dogs and finding them good homes???"

There is one!  Don't know if it still airs - but this show breaks my heart but is inspiring at the same time.  DogTown -  about Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah.  It was on the National Geographic channel.

DogTown

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

awesome!

[BG and Gavin]

Ah yes, DogTown!  My husband won't let me watch that show anymore.  I get to angry and sad.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I agree with Sherri, the idea of dog whisperers checking out the memories sounds like complete hokum to me. I agree with you and Sherri about the cloning though.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

F, this particular 'dog whisperer' claimed the 8 week old puppy told him a memory of when the owner made his broken toe nail into an earring. Hokum isn't a strong enough word.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You exactly expressed my feelings about this, Lorraine:

"I would not want to have my dog cloned. I don't think that the love I felt for that individual dog could be replicated. I would also look forward to having a new friendship with a new and unique furry friend."

I also would never want to see any animal suffer with all of the genetic problems Jackdoodle has, of course, so I wouldn't do this even if it were free.

Sherri also summed up my exactly feelings about this issue:

"I can't believe people are wasting money on cloning a dog when there are so many animals and people in the world who are suffering and could use support. Just think of all the doodles that could be saved with that $50,000 fee per dog. The whole thing is sick sick sick. Why don't they make a reality tv show about something meaningful like rescuing dogs and finding them good homes???"

Amen.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Yes, I totally agree with Lorraine's point about looking forward to a new furry freind.

I think all the people on the show who cloned their dog have serious mental health issues, and shame on the tv producers for exploiting that. Unless they are acting, but that's a whole other problem...

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

Crazy isn't the same as stupid...

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I haven't watched the show, but have heard about it.  I cannot imagine how stupid  ignorant a person could be to think they would have the same animal.  DUH!  Life experiences, training etc.....  And no matter how wonderful your pet was, it still had faults (like allergies, aggression, even shedding) that you might like not to repeat.  I miss my former pets like crazy, especially my childhood dog, but you can't turn back the clock and you can't repeat history.  I have a friend who has consulted a dog psychic and truly believes the information gained helped treat its illnesses.  I personally believe that the psychic is attuned to dogs and recognizes signs the ordinary person misses and perhaps in that it is helping treat the dog - but not from any psychic information received. 

I am shocked that someone would not direct this money to helping others in some fashion rather than selfish self-interest. 

[Lorraine Bromley]

I'm not so sure about the dog whisperer stuff. Or psychic stuff. Whether it be a person who is trained in subtle communication cues or has some connection with a pathway we don't have. I have had experiences with that type of thing so I am not yet willing to throw out that it is possible. We did see one at the local petapalooza fundraiser, it was an interesting talk for about ten minutes ( a donation and short not full reading) My son had lots of negative explanations for her ability. Myself and his girlfriend were not so convinced after hearing what Reggie the dog had to say! Pretty relevant stuff from a stranger.

But to have memories from a dead dogs DNA being transferred into a clone? Doubt it.

The money and the time they spent on this is amazing and yes they could have funded alot of help in the name of their past loved ones! That is eternity right there.

There used to be a show on about a group of Men (biker types) that rescued animals from owners or came in and mentored the more ignorant owners on care taking so they became better owners. They had also included the behaviorists in the show that demonstrated how they reformed pets that had been abused or neglected. To me if I remember right, part of the reason this worked so well was that these guys were very scary when they come to your door and say you need to do this with your animal NOW or we will take your pet! This seemed to work on camera anyway. Maybe we should list any good shows like that on DK so we all have the opportunity to watch online if not offered in our local cable companies.

I felt the one guy on the cloning show was nuts! To say it as politely as possible. 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I am totally open to the possibility of the supernatural, but this was too much for me.

Wolfie's owner clearly needed some serious psychiatric help. I think it's sad that that was being exploited for a t.v. show.