WASHINGTON – The Humane Society of the United States does not lament the news that Genetic Savings & Clone, the first company to clone a pet cat – at a reported cost of $50,000 to the customer – is out of business. The company had cloned two cats for customers since first offering the service in 2004.
"It's no surprise the demand for cloned pets is basically non-existent, and we're very pleased that Genetic Savings & Clone's attempt to run a cloning pet store was a spectacular flop," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. "It's not just a bad business venture, but also an operation grounded on the misuse of animals. For every successful 'clone,' dozens fail and die prematurely, have physical abnormalities, and face chronic pain and suffering. Simply put, cloning is at odds with basic animal welfare considerations."
"The industry has no business trying to profit from people's bonds with their pets or from efforts to engineer a new production strategy that was unnecessary, highly experimental, and inhumane," Pacelle added.
California assembly member Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), who introduced legislation that would have banned the sale of cloned and genetically modified pets in that state, reacted optimistically to the news of the closure of Genetic Savings and Clone, headquartered in Sausalito, California.
"It is reassuring that the public has flatly rejected Genetic Savings & Clone's business model," Levine said. "With animal shelters across the country teeming with healthy, adoptable dogs and cats in need of loving homes, pet cloning - and the suffering it involves - is the last thing we need."
The $50,000 price tag for the cloned cat would have been enough money to spay or neuter 1,428 cats through The HSUS' Rural Area Veterinary Services, which provides free spaying and neutering surgeries and veterinary care to impoverished areas in the United States and abroad.
In a December 2004 press release in response to the first cloning, The HSUS challenged the company to put its profits toward reducing cat overpopulation.
"Rather than spending millions of dollars on developing a technology with no redeeming social purpose, those resources could be aimed at reducing pet overpopulation, including pet adoption outreach efforts and spay/neuter education," Pacelle said.
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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization with nearly 10 million members and constituents. The HSUS is a mainstream voice for animals, with active programs in companion animals, disaster preparedness and response, wildlife and habitat protection, marine mammals, animals in research, equine protection and farm animal welfare. The HSUS protects all animals through education, investigation, litigation, legislation, advocacy and field work. The nonprofit organization is based in Washington and has field representatives and offices across the country. On the web at www.hsus.org.
