British couple get their first puppy cloned from their former dog’s DNA

A BRITISH couple have become the proud parents of a cloned puppy, which was created from the DNA of their former dog that had died.

Supplied Laura Jacques, Richard Remde clone dead dog Dylan. Picture: The Guardian

A BRITISH couple have become the proud parents of a cloned puppy, created from the DNA of their former dog that had died.

Yorkshire pair Laura Jacques and Richard Remde are reported to have paid $A137,648 to clone their boxer, Dylan, who died.

Dylan, died of a heart attack six months ago after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. He was eight-years-old.

The couple travelled to South Korea to wait for the birth of two puppies cloned from their dead, much-loved dog.

Ms Jaques told The Guardian: “I had had Dylan since he was a puppy. I mothered him so much, he was my baby, my child, my entire world.”

The couple are the first UK-paying customers of the South Korean Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, which has already produced one cloned British dog for free following a competition.

The controversial laboratory has created more than 700 dogs but pet cloning has been criticised by a range of organisations, including Genewatch and the RSPCA.

Animal lovers ... Laura Jacques and Richard Remde cloned dead dog Dylan. Picture: The Guardian

The process involves extracting DNA from a recently dead animal and implanting this into an egg which has had the nucleus removed. This is then implanted into a surrogate mother.

Sooam’s website says live cells can be taken from dogs up to five days after they have died.

It also gave advice on how to store your dead pet in your fridge as you prepare for the process.

The cloned animals will have the same DNA as the original dog and share many traits.

Mr Remde, 43, went to South Korea twice for the process.

The first puppy arrived on Boxing Day and has been named Chance. The other is expected to arrive soon, which will be named Shadow.

Mr Remde said: “It will be like five Christmases coming all at once.”

“This is the first case we have had where cells have been taken from a dead dog after a very long time,” David Kim, a scientist at Sooam, told The Guardian. “Hopefully it will allow us to extend the time after death that we can take cells for cloning.”

The New York Post reports the couple plans to adopt both cloned pups as well as both of the surrogates; they also have an additional four dogs and 11 other animals at their Skipton, North Yorkshire.

Strangely, the couple still has Dylan’s corpse in their freezer while they renovate their garden. They plan to bury him in a special area once it’s completed.

“I find it embarrassing telling people that I’ve got my dog in the freezer, but I have got a valid reason,” says Jacques. “I don’t feel I’m ready to bury him just yet.”

“We are a bit animal mad,” confessed Remde. “We don’t go out socialising much.”