Stuffed animal versions of cats, dogs and many other pets are available for sale. But if you want an exact replica of your particular pet, you can have one made by a firm called Cuddle Clones based in Louisville, Kentucky.
Jennifer Graham developed the idea of Cuddle Clones thanks to her beloved friend, a Great Dane, Rufus. When Rufus became ill in 2009 and passed away on Thanksgiving, Jennifer felt the best way to honor Rufus’ memory would be to pursue the idea by making an exact stuffed animal replica of him. And so Cuddle Clones came into being.
You submit photos of your pet to the company along with eye color, and any other information about you want to include in your pet’s look and your Cuddle Clone will be customized. Cuddle Clones will create a stuffed version of any pet including horses, guinea pigs, rabbits and so on.
Jennifer’s love of animals goes even further as a portion of each Cuddle Clone purchase goes to pet-related causes.
If you really want a live clone of your pet, Sooam Biotech, a research company based in South Korea can help you. They clone animals by removing the nucleus of an egg’s cell, replacing it with a cell from the animal being cloned. This is known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).
In 2008, a Florida couple paid $155,000 to have their Labrador become the first cloned dog. Since then, the cost of the process has dropped to $100,000. Sooam will store your pet’s genetic material at a cost of $3,000 until you are ready for actual cloning.
The loss of a beloved pet is heart-breaking. Our pets are family members and grief at their passing goes through the same steps as the loss of any loved one. But does cloning (and how many of us can afford the hefty price) really keep their image alive.
There are so many pets languishing in shelters, crying out for a furever home. Won’t you consider adopting one of them, perhaps a look-alike of your beloved pet and save a life?
