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Five clones of a search and rescue dog which helped locate people trapped in the rubble of the 9/11 attacks were formally presented to their ancestor's former handler.
James Symington, a former Canadian police officer, choked back tears as he formally took possession of the five descendants of his beloved German shepherd named Trakr, who died in April.
I would love to have clones of my deceased dogs. But realistically I know there are needy dogs in shelters so why purposely bring another dog into the world while sad pups are sitting in cages just waiting.........
Although those pups were soooo cute, I just don't think it's a good idea. Although you would have an exact replica of your dog, I am not sure if you can clone personality.
When I think of my previous dog, I always said that God broke the mold when he created Duke.
I would love to have clones of my deceased dogs. But realistically I know there are needy dogs in shelters so why purposely bring another dog into the world while sad pups are sitting in cages just waiting.........
Are you serious? This is a hero dog, an outstanding one in a million working dog, that has been multiplied and preserved, and has the strongest chance for his legacy to continue through one of the scientific miracles of the age. The odds of those "needy shelter dogs" being able to be trained and do this type work are highly questionable at best. Your sympathies and understanding of the significance of this issue are misplaced.
Are you serious? This is a hero dog, an outstanding one in a million working dog, that has been multiplied and preserved, and has the strongest chance for his legacy to continue through one of the scientific miracles of the age. The odds of those "needy shelter dogs" being able to be trained and do this type work are highly questionable at best. Your sympathies and understanding of the significance of this issue are misplaced.
1) Trakr's GENES were replicated, NOT his personality or even his abilities. there's NO guarantee that these pups inherited any innate skills that will make them as good a S&R dog as their sire
2) LOTS of S&R, drug sniffing dogs, and even K-9 officers dogs are pulled from shelters and rescues. any dog w/ the right drive and personality can be a S&R dog, it's not s skill restricted w/in one gene pool or even w/in a few select breeds. shelter dogs can and have been trained in many disciplines (S&R, guiding the blind, drug sniffing, herding, etc)
I'm not a huge fan of cloning, but if the owner wants to pay to do it, who are we to judge. sure, it would be great if everyone adopted, but that's not realistic. for some, having a pet cloned is a comfort for them, and this guy, more so than others, deserve to have some visual reminder of his dog and to be comforted
It wasn't a pet! Its an animal trained to work as a first responder-It would be great if those other dogs could be s successful at it, but they can't. All the wishing won't make it so.
And yes, it was his genes- and along with that come the innate abilities and tendencies ( drop the 'nurture" nonsense you may have been exposed to in college, that's now known to be garbage).The dog wasn't a "sire" and the pups did not inherit in any traditional sense- he was the gene source.
I have to deal with a lot of people on a daily basis who aren't cloning fans either- I usually find that they don't have the science background necessary to have a firm grasp of the concepts involved.
It wasn't a pet! Its an animal trained to work as a first responder-It would be great if those other dogs could be s successful at it, but they can't. All the wishing won't make it so.
And yes, it was his genes- and along with that come the innate abilities and tendencies ( drop the 'nurture" nonsense you may have been exposed to in college, that's now known to be garbage).The dog wasn't a "sire" and the pups did not inherit in any traditional sense- he was the gene source.
I have to deal with a lot of people on a daily basis who aren't cloning fans either- I usually find that they don't have the science background necessary to have a firm grasp of the concepts involved.
I think it is a nice story but time will tell. I am on a SAR team [working a cadaver dog] and one of our members got tremendous publicity for finding a lost boy scout several years ago. It was a properly trained hander and suitable dog being in the right place at the right time doing their job, just as was this dog. I think from the SAR forums the whole community seems pretty neutral to it.
There are a lot of suitable dogs out there - some are shelter dogs; some are bred for work. There are specific requirements for such a dog but the problems are more often with the handler than the dog.
Typical SAR dogs are not great pets in that they will drive you crazy wanting to and play/work all day**. They must, however get along with other people and other dogs, be very agile, willing to work with their human but not be clingy and have great nerve strength [no fear, willing to take on any challenge]. A lot of "field" labs [not show labs] in shelters find SAR homes - very resilient. A problem with shepherds and other herding dogs can be aggression issues, which is a showstopper. [and I have GSDs from working lines] ---
And, yes the innate drives and nerve strength are genetic - a truly good working candidate may have spent the first part of its life as a kennel dog and never socialized [obviously this is NOT the optimal way to raise them and not even suggesting it] but they are so resilient have so much of the right stuff that they overcome that background like it was not there.
** one day my father swore he was going to wear out one of my dogs playing fetch. Two hours later he came in, got some water, and fell asleep on the sofa [dad, not the dog]
EDIT - I will say this though, for a GSD to live to 16, particularly a working dog and one that worked at WTC --- that is phenomenal.
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