As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one real problem with dogs - they leave us far too quickly.  With normal life spans between 8 and 15 years (depending on the breed), a dog lover will have to suffer the loss of his/her best friend far too many times in a normal human lifetime.  Since Oscar is my first dog, I have yet to go experience the sad reality of losing a beloved pet.  And since Oscar is only 2 and 1/2, I hope that I won’t have to face this reality for at least another 10 years or more.  But it’s really scary how quickly the first few years have flown by…and it makes me unbearably sad to even think about the day when Oscar’s smiley face won’t be the first thing I see every morning.  I can’t even read stories about wonderful pets passing away without tearing up…

So, what if a company could clone your elderly or deceased pet and give you a perfect genetic match so that you could start all over again?  Best Friends Again is looking to do just that.  They claim to have successfully cloned a family dog named Missy 3 times.  Tpday they are auctioning off the opportunity for 5 people to clone their dogs and I CAN’T WAIT to see what people will bid for a 2nd chance with their dog.  Bidding for the first auction starts at $100K (!!), and the starting bid increases by $20K for each subsequent auction.

I joked with my husband that fortunately we have 10+ years for the price of cloning to come down, but assuming I had money to burn, would I really spend $100K for Oscar II?  My first reaction is…absolutely.  I would pay any amount of money for another 12-15 years of Oscar - adopting Oscar is the best decision I’ve ever made and I can’t imagine having to fall asleep every night without him curled up beside me.

But on the other hand…just think of all the animals in shelters and how many wonderful dogs could be helped with the money that will be spent on this first commercial cloning opportunity.  I have no doubt that the 5 cloning slots will go like hot cakes.  Even if the bidding never goes above the opening bid, that will be $700K spent to create 5 dogs.  Imagine how many dogs lives could be saved with $700K…when I think about it that way, I know I’ll never be able to justify Oscar II, so I will just have to do my best to enjoy every second with Oscar the 1st!!

What do you think?  Would you clone your current or childhood dog?