Barbra Streisand Opens up About Unusual Decision to Clone Beloved Dog, Sammie
Barbra Streisand has finally opened up about the decision that led her to clone her dog.
With technology advancing rapidly throughout the years, cloning is not only just a matter of fiction but is now also subject to reality and clearly, Barbra Streisand has made use of such advancement to her favor by cloning her beloved dog.
It should be remembered that back in 2017, Streisand's dog, the Coton de Tulear Samantha, had sadly passed away, which greatly saddened the iconic singer. But thankfully, she was able to keep at least some part of her beloved dog even after its passing.
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"I was so devastated by the loss of my dear Samantha, after 14 years together, that I just wanted to keep her with me in some way," she said.
According to the now 75-year-old Hollywood legend, Samantha had reflected the same characteristics as she had when she was young: curly-haired, odd and different. The uniqueness of her dog is what had made her want to clone it.
"One of the reasons I chose cloning was because I couldn't find another curly-haired Coton [du Tulear]," the actress said.
Through the process of cloning, Samantha's genes had been able to produce four different puppies, two of which Streisand kept: Miss Scarlett and Miss Violet. The ten-time Grammy winner shares that it had been much easier for her to cope with Sammie's loss when she knew she would be able to keep a part of her alive which her DNA made sure to do.
Streisand revealed that the cloning had been achieved by taking DNA samples from Sammie's stomach and mouth. She also said that when Miss Scarlett and Miss Violet had been born, she dressed them in their namesake colors in order to tell them apart.
As to what led the singer-actress to the innovation of cloning, Streisand says that she heard about the process when a friend of hers had her own dog cloned. She quickly took to the idea and had sent some of Sammie's cheek and tummy cells to ViaGen Pets in Texas just before her dog's death.
Before getting a call from the lab informing her of the cloning success, Streisand says she didn't know that the procedure would work but is nonetheless thankful for it for the two new additions to her family.
