"Buyer beware" is the message of The Humane Society of the United States and the American Anti-Vivisection Society to consumers and pet lovers as dog cloners yesterday announced their plans for an Internet auction. In a new report, Buyers Beware: Pet Cloning Is Not for Pet Lovers, The HSUS and AAVS highlight the animal suffering, questionable claims, shoddy science and dubious background of certain players in the pet cloning scheme.
Click here to view the press release.
Click here to view the executive summary.
Click here to view the report.

California-based BioArts International announced today that it will work with disgraced South Korean scientist Woo-Suk Hwang to begin a series of five online auctions for the chance to clone a dog, with the bidding starting at $100,000. This latest dog cloning venture, however, is nothing more than another money-making scheme designed to take advantage of pet lovers. Read more.

The American Anti-Vivisection Society, a non-profit animal advocacy organization, denounces the recent news about a South Korean company attempting to sell cloned pet dogs; yet its claims sounds all too familiar. A California-based company duped numerous dog and cat lovers by making the same false promises, and it essentially abandoned them when it shut down in 2006. Read more.

The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS), a non-profit animal advocacy organization, is condemning the production of cloned fluorescent cats in South Korea as cruel and wasteful of scientific resources. Last week, scientists in South Korea announced that they had cloned transgenic cats with a fluorescent protein that makes them glow when exposed to ultraviolet light. AAVS is calling on the scientists to halt their experiments and redirect their attention to more humane and fruitful pursuits. Click here to view the press release.

Genetic Savings & Clone, Inc., the only company to ever sell cloned companion animals to the public, has closed its doors. The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) welcomes the news that Genetic Savings & Clone will no longer be able to capitalize on pet owners' grief with false promises to 'bring back' a beloved deceased pet in exchange for up to $50,000. Click here to view the press release.

The announcement by Korean scientists of the first-ever cloning of a dog is bad news for dogs, and further demonstrates the significant animal welfare problems associated with cloning. The sole surviving puppy faces an uncertain future, as other cloned animals have been plagued by health complications resulting in their premature deaths. AAVS responds.

In response to AAVS's legal petition, on March 7, 2006, USDA revised its Policy #10 to address the growing use of genetically engineered and cloned animals by researchers, breeders, and exhibitors. AAVS applauds the USDA for clarifying that a facility using genetically engineered animals to "determine the effect of the unconventional introduction of synthetic, species-foreign, or other such genetic material on the phenotype of the animal" is a facility that "must be registered as a research facility" under the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). Read Full AAVS Statement.