Cloned Cat Sale Generates Ethics Debate

By PAUL ELIAS, AP Biotechnology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - The first cloned-to-order pet sold in the United States is named Little Nicky, a 9-week-old kitten delivered to a Texas woman saddened by the loss of a cat she had owned for 17 years.

The kitten cost its owner $50,000 and was created from DNA from her beloved cat, named Nicky, who died last year.

"He is identical. His personality is the same," the owner, Julie, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Although she agreed to be photographed with her cat, she asked that her last name and hometown not be disclosed because she said she fears being targeted by groups opposed to cloning.

Let me first say that this is bullshit. The cat will not be identical, only have indentical inherited DNA. We are far from being able to Xerox our pets after death. But someone who puts a sizeable chunk of the cost of buying a home would have to say that, wouldn't she?

She wouldn't say, "I spent $50K for a cat who will probably have a shortened lifespan and additional medical problems due to the state of the technology."

But the most cutting part of the article is this:

"It's morally problematic and a little reprehensible," said David Magnus, co-director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at Stanford University. "For $50,000, she could have provided homes for a lot of strays."

That's two months operation for an entire shelter in some places. Or the overall costs of obtaining and maintaining 10 household pets for an entire lifetime.

Surely there's got to be better uses of rich people's money for pet companionship.