Folks,
Not
being a breeder or show dog manager, I have no direct experience these issues,
but if there are concerns about line breeding and other horrible things breeders
do to get that next winner, what concerns do you have with the idea of being
able to "clone your canine" within the next 5-10
years?
I watched a brief
news segment the other night about the successes with cloning and future
applications. I can't remember the name of the company, but apparently
there are already companies out there that are now storing (for extravagant
fees) the memory of your "family pet" in anticipation of being able to clone
these animals within the foreseeble
future.
The news segment
(local news in Little Rock, AR) focused on interviews with dog owners, asking
them how they felt about being able to clone their dog, to be able to replace
their animal when they died, etc. The answers ranged tremedously, with
several positive responses to the idea. They focused also on the ability
to clone working dogs, such as used by disabled people who depend on their dog
to function in the world (blind, paraplegic, etc.). This seemed like a
good possible application of the cloning technology, especially since suitable
dogs are apparently hard to come by. However, the possible abuse seems
tremendous by those types of unscrupulous people mentioned on this
list.
Assuming the technology does
exist within the next 10 years, how would we ever ensure an ethical and
morally-sound use of cloning when perpetuating our favorite breed of dog?
Couldn't they simply clone the best-in-show winner or "create" the perfect breed
example over time?
Curious,
Tammy and kids (Bonnie-Pyr,
Sadie-?, Goose-Keeshond, and Red-?)
tmseller@gateway.net
To unsubscribe, send a message to esquire@pyrnet.org
with
unsubscribe pyrnet-l
as
the BODY of the message. The SUBJECT is
ignored.