Ethics and Rights: Puppies and Kittens edition.

[logansrogue]

Two things I want to talk about today.

1. Cloned Pets.

Now, Sunday Night on Channel 7 covered the topic of cloned pets, and how people are starting to clone pets. This is the saddest thing I've ever come across, and I'll tell you why.

First of all, some of these people cloning their pets think that the new cloned pet is exactly the same as the old one. They're not. That's not the way cloning works. It's making a "twin" so to speak, an identical one. So like real twins, they might have a couple of spookily similar behaviours (even brothers and sisters have those), but they're different people. From a spiritual standpoint, they're different souls. You just can't magically make a duplicate of an animal or person. That soul lives in that time and has that experience. You can't bring it back. And even if you DID bring that soul back, it wouldn't be the one you knew, because just by living the life you knew, that spirit has changed. All those existential, philisophical and spiritual reasons aside, there's a very basic injustice going on here.

One cloned pet costs $150,000. A HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND. How many animals could be saved at a shelter with that money, or even a fraction of that money? What about the homeless animals out there that need a home? Do we ignore them in a vain attempt to bring back the furry friend we loved so well?

Personally, I think it's a disservice to that animal. Nature has a rhythm and a cycle. And I know that if I, say, cloned Xena, had I had the opportunity, I would never have known the love of Rogue. Where should she have lived? I've learned things with Rogue that I wouldn't have learnt with Xena. Neither cat is better than the other. I know in my heart that things are as they were meant to be.

The biggest reason against pet cloning is animal suffering. Most cloned animals die of some mutation or complication arising from their cloning birth. Miscarriages, mutation, gene degredation, etc. To get that one cloned pet, there's a horrible trail of dead animals that didn't have to have that suffering.

Plus if people start cloning pets, then the gene pool will eventually suffer. Genetics thrive with diversity and mixing. Whole populations of one single genetic type animal are vulnerable to all sorts of horrible mishaps, especially being wiped out by a virus or disease that that animal isn't equipped to deal with. For example, humanity survived the Bubonic Plague because our genetic diveristy meant that a number of us had the biological defenses to fight the virus.

There are so many good reasons against cloning pets, I think. I'm not saying cloning doesn't have a place in this world. Cloning stem cells is no doubt an avenue for great things. Replicating pets, however, is a misuse of that scientific gift.

~~*~~

So, apparently, WA Police, thanks to Colin "Toadface" Barnett, will be able to body search whoever they want in certain areas of the city of Perth whenever they want when on the beat late at night. From what I gather, if they don't like the look of you, they can search you.

I wonder how these Police people will be trained to spot possible drug dealers? Are they going to pick on certain types of people? Poorer looking people? Blacker or more ethnic looking people?

Do people have the right to refuse being searched in the street? Or to be refused being searched by anyone at all? What actual civil liberties are being encroached upon here?

If there's something I'm missing or I'm misunderstanding the situation, I'd love to have it made clearer because as it is, I'm mildly concerned.

Comments

[shantari.livejournal.com]

*slack jaw*
People clone pets? I... What... Who... How... Why... *brain shuts down*

[pixienymph.livejournal.com]

Both of these topics are highly disturbing on so many levels. :(

[zzzzsleep.livejournal.com]

The police search thing sounds a bit dodgy to me.
"Yes, we've been given new powers, but we promise not to abuse them! Think of the children!"

[mawaridi.livejournal.com]

I do find the idea of cloning pets sad and aggravating by turns because, as you say, a cloned pet won't be the same as the pet you lost, and it seems to me like a huge waste of resources while so many animals are abandoned or relegated to shelters all the time, who desperately need a home. But I don't think the shrinking of the gene pool is so much a problem here? The cloned animals are going directly to pet owners and I doubt many of them would ultimately get a chance to breed.

The police body search law is worrying. It sounds so very open to abuse :-/

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Well, there was talk of pedigree breeders using cloning to replicate show winners and so forth. Plus if, say, there was a really great pet and a lot of people wanted a clone of it. If cloning pets was normalised and the price came down, and a lot of people had a copy of that pet... I guess that's a bit of a stretch. I have a far too active imagination.

[mawaridi.livejournal.com]

It's not that much of a stretch, especially if they're already talking about replicating prize winning dogs. Actually, I hadn't even thought about show animals, and that would definitely be an area with potential for abuse :-/ In general, cloning pets just sounds a bit horrible to me.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Well yeah, that's what they talked about in the article. I mean, if you look at the pedigree dog industry in the UK, right at the top, there's some horrible inbreeding and animal abuse in the name of "purity". Can you imagine if these people got their hands on cloning technology? They'd have no qualms in replicating their favourite in-bred little foo-foo.

Cloning is like fire, methinks. Incredibly useful in the right hands, but incredibly BAD for a litany of other reasons.

[rhyana.livejournal.com]

There's been at least one or two cases of show dogs being breed using a champion stud's frozen sperm, so cloning, which would probably be outlawed by whichever kennel club, would be the unfortunate, unethical next step.

That said, a family friend went to Texas A&M and worked in their bioresearch lab, taking care of the 11 bassett hounds they had created through cloning (two litters of cloned pups if I remember). One was given to the original owner. The other ten were given to lab workers and caretakers. I've met her, she's a lovely dog, very happy. She's about 8 now.

[wingedselkie.livejournal.com]

I completely agree, especially about the cost of cloning and how the money could be put to better use. I volunteer at a cat shelter, and we operate solely on donations. Does anyone have any idea how much good $150,000 could do??? Just $200 covers spay/neutering, microchipping, FIV and FELV screening and vaccinations, and parasite treatments!

It really gets to me when people think animals that look similar will be exactly the same. We get so many cats returned to us just because "she doesn't act like our Fluffy did, although she looks just like her." Animals have personalities, and they are all different from each other. Period. Pick your animal based on her existing characteristics - don't try and make her into something impossible, or think she'll be just like another animal. Oy!

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

That shits me. The way people treat companion animals just breaks my heart.

I mean, I got Rogue, I picked her from the litter because she was a grey tabby like Xena and had a little orange spot on her head like Xena had, but I knew she would never be a replacement Xena. This sounds weird but I thought it was a little sign from fate saying, "Pick this one! She's right for you." And she was. Rogue isn't Xena, but Rogue is so absolutely wonderful and special. All my cats have had something unique and wonderful about them. Even if I miss cats that have been and gone, the unique quirks and spirits of the cats that come into my life salve the pain from losing my other babies like nothing else. Knowing I'm giving a home, love, shelter and safety to another animal, in honour of those gone, to continue being a haven for these little babies. That's better than anything else.

And I don't know how people can live with themselves if they treat their companion animal with any less respect than that.

[wingedselkie.livejournal.com]

Right! I could go on forever about how people mistreat animals... But thank you for making me aware of the cloning issue - I knew it existed, but strangely enough didn't think about it beyond, "Wow. That's outrageous."