Some influencers are cloning their famous pets to maintain the ‘legacy’ of their popular animals
ViaGen Pets & Equine, a company that will preserve your pet’s cells and clone a beloved furry friend, expects to see more clients with a strong social media presence in the future.
Clones of a US woman’s late beloved former pitbull terrier, are on display at the Seoul National University animal hospital in Seoul on August 5, 2008. Five cloned dogs were created by South Korean scientists in the world’s first commercial cloning of a pet dog.
Cloning pets is becoming the latest trend for social media influencers.
Courtney Udvar-Hazy, who has a popular social media account dedicated to her dog Willow, recently spoke to TODAY about cloning her canine after the pet died four years ago. She told the outlet that she used ViaGen Pets & Equine — a company that will preserve your pet’s cells and then clone a beloved furry friend — to make six clones of Willow.
“Willow was just insanely special. She was my soul dog. I wanted her bloodline and her legacy to continue,” Udvar-Hazy told the outlet.
“I went into it with zero expectation,” she continued. “I knew that it would be similar to identical twins in humans. Completely different animal, completely different soul, completely different personality, but genetically identical.”
Since the cloning process, Udvar-Hazy — who monetizes her social media — has maintained the account with Willow’s clones. Influencer Kelly Anderson cloned her cat Chai after the pet died at a young age and runs her monetized Instagram account with the animal’s clone.
Cloning a dog with Texas-based ViaGen costs $50,000, while cloning a cat costs $35,000 and $85,000 for a horse. ViaGen expects more influencers to become clients and hopes their prices can soon become affordable for everyday pet owners.
Celebrities outside social media have also cloned their pets.
Barbra Streisand previously revealed in February 2018 that she had cells taken from her dog Samantha, who died in 2017, to use the samples to make clones of the canine.
A year later, the singer shared a photo of her two cloned dogs — Scarlet and Violet — sitting next to Samantha’s grave. Streisand’s other dog, Fanny, came from Samantha’s breeder.
“The twins Scarlet and Violet honoring their mom (with cousin Fanny in the center!),” Streisand captioned the post at the time.
After Streisand’s revealed that Scarlet and Violet are clones, PETA’s president Ingrid Newkirk issued a statement to Page Six discouraging people from cloning animals, noting that “cloning adds to the homeless-animal population crisis” since other animals remain in shelters.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has also criticized the practice, noting that there are “important welfare concerns” in a statement. The organization also expressed the need for a “scientific and ethical analysis of the procedures and practices” of cloning.
