Pet Cloning Now Possible, But Expensive

CEDAR PARK, TX —Pet cloning is now possible, but expensive.

ViaGen Pets, the Texas firm that started cloning pets four years ago, charges $50,000 dollars for a dog and $35,000 for a cat.

According to a company blog, Blake Russell, CEO and President of Viagen, has worked with Barbara Striesand to clone her beloved dog Samantha.

A Seattle woman spent the money to clone her toy poodle Buhner [[ BYOO-ner ]] twice.

Amy Vangemert saw a segment on “60 Minutes” about pet cloning. The technology once reserved for livestock — Dolly, a cloned domestic sheep, made international headlines when she was born in 1996 — was now available to anyone.

Buhner, who's now 14, is named for Seattle Mariners legend Jay Buhner and his clones are named 'Buhner Junior" and "Ditto."

The company says the process takes about 4 weeks to preserve the genetic sample once it’s received at the lab. “The cloning process requires the same gestation (60-65 days) and nursing process (56 days) as with any pet breeding technique,” according to their site.

They require a cheek swab sample and stomach biopsy to create the genetic sample.