Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Gross.

This might be the most disgusting display of wealth I've seen in a long time... meet Ed & Nina Otto of Boca Raton, FL, who spent $150,000 to clone their dead yellow lab, Lancelot.



Can you think of anything more ridiculous?! According to the ASPCA's website, half of all dogs in shelters are eventually destroyed because there is no one to adopt them. So rather than provide a home for one of these animals, this crazy couple decided to create a new one.

And you know what, that's not even the part that really gets me. I'd much rather more people adopted strays and mutts from shelters. But let's say this couple had rather paid several thousand dollars for a purebred puppy. Okay. That's their perogative, and a choice made lots of mostly responsible purebred dog enthusiasts and breeders. Even if they'd done that, at least they'd have had $148,000 dollars to spare and could've donated that to the ASPCA or their local humane society or any other charity or even put it in a trust fund for their grandkids for goodness sake!

I am a lover of animals and I understand the intense emotional connection you have with a pet. For crying out loud, I held our family dog Bear's head in my lap as the vet put him to sleep, after he was too old and exhausted to even get up off the floor - I grasp the heartbreak of a pet's passing. But here's where Mr. & Mrs. McCrazy and I differ. Because my next thought after my dog died was not, "Let's go ahead and freeze up some of this DNA because I need an exact replica of this dog in the future. Literally no other dog on the planet will do. Good thing I'm rich!"

How pathetic and, to be frank, bat-sH*# INSANE is this couple that they believed this was the best course of action?! CLONING. THEIR. DOG. I feel like Amy Poehler & Seth Meyers, doing a "Seriously?" sketch on SNL. Seriously, Mr. & Mrs. Otto, it never crossed your mind to just GET A DIFFERENT DOG? And seriously, you couldn't think of anything better to do with $150K? SERIOUSLY?!

Sorry for a rant first thing in the morning, dearest reader, but this story just got me all riled up. Now I can't wait to get home and give Scruffy a big fat hug and thank God that He gives us the special honor of caring for the creatures of His creation, and maybe pray we screw it up a little less often.

4 comments:

Kali said...

That is apalling. $150,000??? For a dog that could get run over tomorrow. I'm pretty sure the end of the human race is quickly approaching.

Anonymous said...

If you cloned a living cat then would that cat have 18 lives?

lila kate said...

This is disgusting. I'm pretty sure I hate them. I agree with you - spend that money on helping other puppies!!! Stupid people...

Anonymous said...

This cloning of pets reminds me of Pet Cemetery by Stephen King. Very scary!