COPYCATS

PETS Everyone has that one pet in life who they fall in love with at first sight — or first scratch. For San Francisco resident Wyatt Boumedine, that was Zine, his white cat with a raccoon-like tail who would constantly growl, claw — and probably curse, if he could speak — at his owner. But Boumedine adored him.

When Zine died from cancer in 2016, he was devastated. But just before he passed, Boumedine discovered Texas-based ViaGen Pets, the only U.S-based firm to offer commercial cloning of pets.



For $25,000 — the company's price for cat cloning in 2016 — Boumedine could have a copy of his beloved pet. The French native knew his bond with Zine couldn't be replicated with another cat — even a genetically identical one. But, if there was some way he could keep a part of Zine alive with him, then perhaps cloning was worth a try.

Fast-forward one year later: Boumedine was able to obtain not one, but two clones of Zine through ViaGen. He appropriately named them Zine Jr. and Zinou — the latter combining Zine's name with a French word to express affection.

"Every time I see them, I'm very happy," he said. "I absolutely do not regret doing that." A pricey service Boumedine joins a rising number of owners across the United States who are taking advantage of a 21st-century scientific marvel: pet cloning, or the process of creating an exact genetic replica of another organism.

But there is a backlash, too, from those who think the practice is morally wrong. Animal cloning was once considered to be a science-fiction fantasy, but then came Dolly the sheep in 1996 — the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell — and suddenly the concept became an obtainable and profitable reality. After cloning Dolly, scientists began to expand their repertoire to include mice, cows and horses.

But it was the cats and dogs, which are the most popular pets in the United States, that caught the public's attention. High-profile celebrities like Barbra Streisand and Paris Hilton began to get their pooches cloned — and dropped around $50,000 to do so. As the industry became more widely known, and the cloning technology more accessible, everyday pet owners like Boumedine considered paying the price.

The number of pet cloning requests has grown recently, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to ViaGen, which offers dog and cat cloning for $50,000. "That time spent at home during COVID provided more opportunities for our clients to continue building unique and special bonds with their beloved pets," said spokesperson Lauren Aston. '95% similar' Cloned animals may share the same genetic material as the original, but their environment also plays an important role in how their personalities will turn out, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Boumedine said the twins are "95% similar" to Zine in behavior, but are more sociable because he owns other cats the pair can constantly play with, including their surrogate mother, who he adopted from ViaGen, and three other cats he adopted from a Redwood City, California, shelter. The difference serves as a reminder that the twins can't truly replace Zine, who is forever memorialized in a painting that sits on Boumedine's mantel, where all the other cats can see. "It's healthy they have little differences," he said.

"It's good reminders they are clones, they are not my original cat." Ethical considerations Public opinion surrounding cloning animals has remained unchanged in the last 20 years. According to a 2023 Gallup Poll, 61% of Americans believe cloning animals is morally wrong, which is only 2% lower than it was in 2001.

Their disapproval stems from factors including animal exploitation during the cloning process (a surrogate animal is used to birth the clone) and the ethics associated with producing a living creature through artificial means. While some people would consider cloning their pets or preserving their DNA, others like Alisa Corstorphine are firmly against the idea. The Alamo, California, resident said she doesn't understand why people want to clone their pets when local shelters are overflowing with animals in need.

"Bringing more animals into this world, when we can't take care of the ones we've got, just seems offensive and disgusting," she said. Corstorphine volunteers at the Feral Cat Foundation — a California nonprofit where volunteers rescue cats — and handles a hotline where people can report stray kittens and cats. The calls have become numerous and heartbreaking in recent years, she said.

"It goes on and on," she said. But some, like Sunnyvale veterinarian Kate Fedorova, believes the decision to clone a pet falls o n the owner's shoulders. "If people have money and technology offers it," she said, "why not?" Get local news delivered to your inbox!.