Paws for thought: Britain's first cloned dog is born

Dog owner Rebecca Smith, who won a £60,000 contest, had her puppy cloned in a South Korean laboratory.

16:32 09 April 2014

Britain’s first-ever cloned dog has been born after owner Rebecca Smith won a £60,000 contest. 

 

Through a revolutionary test tube process, the 12-year-old dachshund was reproduced as a puppy which is now being called “mini Winnie.” The process, which was performed in a laboratory, offers millions of dog lovers the chance to immortalize their pets in the future. 

 

29-year-old Rebecca said: “We Brits do have a close attachment to our dogs, so it is exciting. My sausage dog is very special but she is 12 and not going to be around forever. My boyfriend always joked, ‘We need to get her cloned.’

 

“Then I read an article about it and there was a competition to get your pet cloned.

 

“We sent in some videos and it just sort of snowballed from there.”

 

Winnie was chosen by a party of executives from Sooam Biotech who picked three dogs from the UK before presenting each case to the company. 

 

Rebecca added: “I saw it being born and it looks exactly like Winnie. It is identical. Personality-wise I couldn’t tell you because it doesn’t see and it doesn’t hear yet – it is just a little sausage dog that wriggles around drinking milk.

 

“They are going to keep me updated with videos and photos and we will try to visit again in the next few months.”