Jul 2, 2008

September 11 Dog Hero to be Cloned

G'day Dog Lovers,

I was reading in the news today about a dog hero from September 11 who is going to be cloned. Trakr, a German Shepherd, helped to sniff out survivors from the rubble of the World Trade Centre after the 9/11 attacks.

Now aged 15, Trakr no longer has use of his back legs because of a degenerative neurological disorder that doctors believe may have been caused by exposure to toxic smoke at Ground Zero.

But a Californian cloning firm ran a competition offering owners the chance to replicate their pet, and Trakr was judged as the most 'clone-worthy' entrant. A sample of Trakr's DNA will be taken to a South Korean lab and the clone could be ready by the end of the year.

The topic of cloning is always a controversial one and this case certainly raises a few ethical questions. How do you feel about cloning? Do you think Trakr should be cloned?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that cloning is just plain wrong - you shouldn't mess with nature. Trakr is obviously a very heroic dog and, sad as it is, it looks like is time on the Earth is almost over. He should just be left to go in peace.

A world where cloning is accepted as some everyday occurence would be a scary place.

Anonymous said...

I agree. As tempting as it must be to give a hero dog like Trakr another chance at life, it just shouldn't be done.

At a fundamental level I just find something basically wrong about cloning.When you start to play around with the natural order of things you are asking for trouble.

I think the main thing to take out of this story is Trakr's bravery - putting his own life on the line to try and save people's lives.