An American woman got her dead cat cloned for $50,000 and since the dna is the same , says
the kitten behaves in the same way . Bereaved people can now be offered their wife/ husband clone ,
although there will be a slight age difference.

Owner purrs over $50,000 cloned cat while critics growl

December 23, 2004

FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES

SAN FRANCISCO -- The first cloned-to-order pet sold in the United States is named Little Nicky, a
9-week-old kitten delivered to a Texas woman saddened by the loss of a cat she had owned for 17
years.

The kitten cost its owner $50,000 and was cloned from her longtime pet, named Nicky, that died last
year. Nicky's owner banked the cat's DNA, which was used to create the clone.

"He is identical. His personality is the same," the owner, Julie, said in a telephone interview.
Although she agreed to be photographed with her cat, she asked that her last name and hometown not
be disclosed because she said she fears being targeted by groups opposed to cloning.

"When Little Nicky yawned, I even saw two spots inside his mouth, just like Nicky had," Julie said.
"Little Nicky loves water like Nicky did, and he's already jumped into the bathtub like Nicky used
to do."

Genetic Savings and Clone, a company based in Sausalito, Calif., near San Francisco, delivered
Little Nicky to his owner two weeks ago.

The company previously funded cloning efforts at Texas A&M University. In 2001, that project
produced the first clone of a household pet -- a cat named Cc.

Earlier this year, the company offered the chance to clone a cat for $50,000. Five people signed up,
said company spokesman Ben Carlson.

Julie was the first client to receive her cat. Four other cats are in various stages of development,
Carlson said.

The prospect of made-to-order clones, however, has raised questions among ethicists and animal
rights activists.

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said cloned animals often have
physical abnormalities and aren't likely to live as long.

"It's all done for no valuable social purpose," he said.

Commercial interests already are cloning prized cattle for about $20,000 each, and scientists have
cloned mice, rabbits, goats, pigs, horses and the endangered banteng, a wild bull found mostly in
Indonesia. Several research teams around the world are racing to create the first