|
|
Article: Creating Fido's Twin: can pet cloning be ethically justified?
- Article from:
- The Hastings Center Report
- Article date:
- July 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Hastings Center. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Commercial pet cloning--currently cats only--is now available from the firm Genetic Savings and Clone for the small price of $30,000. In December 2004, a nine-week-old cat clone was delivered to its owner, the first of six customers waiting for the identical twin of a beloved pet. (1) "Little Nicky," as he's known, has stirred up a great deal of ethical controversy, with more to come as the firm expands to dog cloning sometime in 2005.
For many, the cloning of companion animals seems morally suspect in a way that the cloning of animals for agricultural purposes or for biomedical research does not. In judging the ethics of cloning animals that will be healthier to ...