The $155,000 Puppy
We’ve barked up this tree before: how much is too much to spend on your pet?
$8,000 for kitty’s kidney transplant?
$12,000 for doggy’s dialysis?
$155,000 to clone a dead Labrador named Lancelot?
Sir Lancelot was a yellow Lab that loved bagels, pillows, and shoes. His death last year from skin cancer “devastated” his owners, Ed and Nina Otto. “He was a human dog,” Mr. Otto lamented. “He read your emotions.”
Years before Lancelot got sick, the Otto’s froze and banked his DNA. Last summer, they turned it over to a company that auctioned off the chance to clone a pet. The Otto’s winning bid: $155,000
In January, the Otto’s new puppy—a 10-week-old yellow Lab named Lancelot Encore— flew from South Korea, where he was cloned, to South Florida, where the Otto’s live on 12 acres with nine other pet dogs and various cats, birds, and sheep.
When the clone arrived, so did the criticism: that designing a pet was an irresponsible use of technology, especially when U.S. shelters euthanize millions of unwanted pets each year; and that Lancelot cost a lot.
“For $155,000, we could do spays and neuters for six months,” said the head of a local Florida animal services department. The Otto’s, however, have been steady donors to the Humane Society in Palm Beach County, giving $300,000 in the last three years—double the cost of the clone.
But the Humane Society calls cloning “disreputable” and says “cloning cannot replicate an animal’s uniqueness. Cloning can only replicate a pet’s genetics, which influence but do not determine his physical attributes or personality.”
Nina Otto disagrees. “I think he’s Sir Lancelot,” she said of Lancelot Encore. “I know there are a lot of people in this world who think this is an unfair thing to do. I don’t.”
“Think about this,” said Ed Otto. “You could have your favorite dog with you your entire life. I don’t think that’s too far-fetched.”
Tell us what you think: Is paying $155,000 to clone a dead pet responsible, irresponsible, or something else? If you have money, does it matter how you spend it?
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private business owner
I think the real issue is that society is desensitizing us to stories like this. Soon we will read about a couple who took their child’s DNA and cloned him or her.
The same way my mouth didn’t drop open when I heard about the puppy-that’s the same mundane reaction society want’s us to have about every morally wrong and disgusting stories we read in the news. these stories aren’t about the ‘person’, they want to see the tolerance level of the rest of the world.
Pretty sad.
Rhonda Mayfield | 12 months ago
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Just stop
They paid for the dog, stop sticking YOUR noses in THEIR business and move on. All of you have your own lives, your own problems, your own pets, your own children to worry about. Just stop trying to rule everybody ELSE’S lives and enjoy your own.
A. Zero | 12 months ago
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Forgot to mention...
I’m sorry for the multiple posts, but I just wanted to say that my previous post, entitled “Just Stop”, was posted in anticipation of the flames of those who have very strong feelings of opposition to the fact that there are people who love their pets enough to go through all the trouble and harassment to have them returned to them. Again, live your own lives and don’t worry about what the Ottos did.
A. Zero | 12 months ago
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no title
I don’t think if the tissue of you dog is dead you should clone it. It has gone to the spirit world, and I can’t see doing that. However, if I had a lot of money, a lot of money, and I never have so this is strictly hypothetical, I am thinking about having my dog Hershey; he was the best friend I ever had and I would have spent anything on him because money means nothing ot me, but he meant my world.
Serenity | 12 months ago
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To clone or not to clone
Is this discussion really about the money? If the couple had bought a yacht, a new house, a coffee shop or a diamond necklace, would other people feel the need to debate responsibility issues? If you have money, it matters very much how you spend it. However, in North American society, that is a personal choice within the limits of the law.
Christine G. | 12 months ago
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The world is full
The world is full of idiotic morons like these people. $155,000 for a clone of a dumb dog. How pathetic.
Bob | 11 months, 3 weeks ago
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Dog lover
Obviously, some of you people have never loved a dog as much as this couple did. Truthfully, if I had their kind of money, I would have cloned my beloved silky, Skeeter. He has been gone for almost three years and I still miss him dreadfully. I can’t drive past the apartment building where we used to live or the park where he loved to play without crying. Sometimes, I can talk about him or look at his picture but at other times……..
The Ottos have the right to spend THEIR OWN MONEY any way they choose and if cloning their dog makes them happy, it’s nobody’s business but theirs.
Also, since they contribute generously to the local Humane Society, they deserve a commendation, not condemnation for what they choose to do with the rest of THEIR money. So why don’t you people just shut up?
Rosanne | 11 months, 3 weeks ago
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I agree
Walk in their shoes. If you had $155,000 that you could afford to spend on regaining joy and living with your best friend forever, that is your right to do that. People can sit back and criticize all they want, but the only person whose opinion counts is the one walking in those shoes. Even someone who had $155,000 to throw away on his favorite pet may choose not to do so because he may value something more. The couple did not suffer because they spent the money; they did not rely on society to support them as some in the news have with their flagrant wishes, so it makes absolutely no bearing on you or me.
If you really want to gripe about something, consider the $155,000 that he had to spend out of the country because it is illegal in America to provide this service. That took $155,000 from the GDP, hmmm. Maybe we should get mad about that.
Charity Sipe | 11 months, 3 weeks ago
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My first thought
I saw this on the news a couple weeks ago and the headline was something like “Couple pays over $150,000 to clone their dog”. My first thought was that if this couple really loved animals the money could have been better spent by donating to the ASPCA. Then I found out that they DID donate large sums of money to support animals in need. I say good for them and go for. If cloning is the issue, then it’s a separate issue from their use of their money. I think they’ve struck a fair balance with their philanthropy and their personal desires. I hope they have a long and happy life together with their new friend.
John S. | 11 months, 3 weeks ago
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All dogs go to heaven
I personally wouldn’t clone my dog when she dies (as much as I love her), but if that’s what they want to spend their money on, that’s their business. If the animal is healthy, I don’t see what the big deal is. If it were a human, that would be a completely different matter. But as it is, it’s just a dog.
TK | 11 months, 3 weeks ago
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