Kelowna woman gets 2 successful clones of her dead cat
Kris Stewart now has two clones of her cat Bear, who died two years ago
After two years and four failed attempts, a ragdoll cat that belonged to a Kelowna, B.C., woman has been successfully cloned.
Kris Stewart received not one but two kittens cloned using DNA from her beloved cat Bear.
Stewart said she sent Bear's DNA to ViaGen, a Texas-based pet cloning company, after he died at the age of five in a traffic accident in January 2022.
"I just felt like there was more living that needed to be done by Bear," said Stewart.
The process of cloning involves putting the animal's DNA into an embryo, which is transferred to the uterus of a surrogate cat who carries and births the babies, according to Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist who works at the University of Toronto.
The kittens, who Stewart has named Bear Bear and Honey Bear, were born on Jan. 10. After staying with their mother in the company's New York facility for eight weeks, Stewart was finally able to pick them up on Wednesday.
"They both seem like Bear," she said. "These guys are bold and sassy."
Stewart described Bear as rambunctious and highly intelligent.
"Bear was the smartest animal I think I've ever had, and I've had animals since I was two years old."
Fewer than five per cent of cloned animals survive birth, according to Bowman.
He said cloned animals usually have a reduced life expectancy and may have abnormalities, including enlarged organs.
Stewart said four embryo transfers failed before Bear Bear and Honey Bear were born. She said the process cost her about $50,000 in total.
But she is "thrilled" to be with her new kittens, whom she says are showing some similarities to Bear.
Cloning ethics
The world's first animal clone, Dolly the Sheep, was born in Scotland in 1996. Bowman says since then, commercial pet cloning is on the rise, with celebrities such as Barbra Streisand speaking out about their experiences.
But he says there is debate around whether cloning pets should be allowed.
"We've got massive amounts of animals in shelters, when it comes to cats, my understanding is some still end up euthanized," said Bowman.
He said there are also risks to the mothers carrying the clones, and the rates of miscarriages and stillbirths for clones is high.
"Animals can't consent to anything."
ViaGen said in an email statement to CBC News that it has thousands of clients worldwide, including about a dozen in Canada.
Bowman said he can understand the desire to clone a cherished lost pet, but warned that clones will not be exactly the same as the original.
While they share DNA, circumstances in which the animal was born are different. He said in some cases people have found their cloned pets are not similar in disposition to the original.
"I had a childhood dog ... I'd love to see that dog again," said Bowman. "But [a clone] wouldn't be the same dog."
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With files from Joseph Otoo and Sarah Penton