Trackr is the name of a German Shepherd that gained attention for his “heroic” deeds during the 9-11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Trackr is also the father of five puppies that were genetically cloned from him.
Within the last seven months, scientists have produced five puppies who are genetic, in theory, exact copies of Trackr, the dog that searched for survivors in the WTC’s rubble. The puppies’ names are Trustt, Valor, Prodigy, Solace and Deja Vu.
The 16-year old Trackr died in April. But before he died his owner entered a contest where the winner could have their “clone-worthy” pet dog cloned for free. Cloning is otherwise a very expensive proposition, costing around $100,000.
‘Once in a lifetime, a dog comes along that not only captures the hearts of all he touches but also plays a private role in history,’ Trackr’s owner, a police officer, wrote in his nomination letter to the contest. According to at least one news report, he intends to put the five cloned dogs to work in search and-rescue teams.
Ethical cloning issues aside, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has concerns about the health of cloned pups and dogs: “Our current knowledge of animal cloning indicates that there are important welfare concerns at issue. Reports on the health and condition of mammalian animals produced by cloning have indicated a variety of anatomical and physiological problems.”
Looking at the ethical issue of cloning dogs, it appears this could become a mixed bag. Trackr’s owner appears to be motivated for purposes of searching and rescuing when human tragedies occur. Trackr’s DNA and rescue qualities being passed on to new search-and-rescue dogs is a noble, unselfish thing, on the part of the pet’s owner, imho.
If making exact copies of a dog presents an ethical problem, only time will reveal how much of a problem. A pet world of cross-breeding and cloning may one day produce perfect puppies, which may or may not be a good thing. One thing we do know is that individuals and companies, when motivated by greed, will view cloning dogs as their next opportunity to profiteer, while ignoring the real needs of pets and their owners.