Woman Pays $50,000 for Dog Cloning Procedure
A New York woman loved her dog so much that she paid $50,000 to have it cloned after its death three years ago.
Danielle Tarantola was distraught over the death of her dog, Trouble. Apparently her grief was so unbearable that she contacted the world's only animal cloning company in South Korea to use Trouble's DNA and create a duplicate dog, according to Daily Mail.
She named the new dog Double Trouble after paying $50,000 for the procedure.
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"I really can see no difference between them. So many of their gestures and the way they play is identical," Tarantola told Daily Mail.
Tarantola took a DNA sample of Trouble while he was alive and flirted with the idea of cloning him. She said she was curious to see how they would interact with each other, but decided to wait.
After his death, the DNA was used to develop embryos, which were carried by a surrogate mother. Once impregnated, scientists from the cloning company contacted Tarantola. She was able to watch the birth of Double Trouble in South Korea from a webcam in the U.S.
Trouble was given to Tarantola as a pet when she was 18 and she said that she treated him better than most people treat their children.
"He was like my baby," she said, according to ABC News. "I didn't have children so he was basically like my son."
She dressed him in elaborate costumes, including a tuxedo for her wedding and talked to him every day. She put up a giant portrait of the dog's face in her home and sowed his picture and name into her pillows after he passed.
"It was terrible. It was heart-breaking," Tarantola said.
She was able to negotiate a deal to only pay half of the original $100,000 price tag by securing TV coverage of the procedure, but she says she was willing to pay the entire amount.
According to ABC News, Tarantola had just lost her Wall Street job and convinced the company to let her pay only $50,000 because TLC was going to air an hour-long special about her journey.
"I was willing to do it for $100,000," she said. "I got a deal."
She says that she understands that her decision isn't for everyone but is happy with the dog clone.
"I know this isn't for everyone but it was my decision and I'm incredibly happy with it," Tarantola said. "I can never replace Trouble but I love Double Trouble to pieces."
