Since we announced CC, the world’s first cat clone, Genetic Savings & Clone has been criticized by some advocates of animal rescue shelters–advocates like Don Wechselberger, who manages the Harmony House for Cats in Chicago, and who was quoted in your pages asking, “Why are we cloning cats when there are hundreds of cats outside who need help?” (“Cloning produces cat, more questions,” Page 1, Feb. 15).
Our clients want animals they can’t obtain from shelters or conventional breeders.
They seek genetic duplicates of specific animals.
That doesn’t mean that they, or we, are callous to the plight of shelter animals. The truth is, our company shares Wechselberger’s concern.
Our company’s Code of Bioethics guarantees that we will actually reduce the cat and dog population. To back it up, last year we committed $750,000 to an effort at the University of Virginia to develop an injectable sterilant for cats and dogs. This low-cost, non-surgical alternative to spaying and neutering could be an important solution to the problem. We also gave $250,000 to spay/neuter clinics.
