Are Cloned Puppies Worth the Risks?

Young Song faces felony animal cruelty charge

(NEWSER) - An animator who helped bring lovable creatures to life in movies like Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar 2 has been arrested for what Humane Society workers describe as one of the worst cases of animal abuse they've ever seen. DreamWorks employee Young Song is accused of shooting his neighbor's muzzled German Shepherd puppy with a pellet gun and then beating it to death with a hammer, reports the New York Daily News . More»

But the pooch is fine!

(NEWSER) - A Chicago man faces charges of animal cruelty after throwing a puppy out of a moving car into traffic, reports the Chicago Tribune . Sergieu Muresan, 26, turned himself in after seeing a warrant for his arrest 11 days after he tossed the pup out a window in a busy Chicago intersection. He faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine if convicted. The dog is fine and going up for adoption. More»

So far, 'the Dollies' appear healthier than their namesake

(NEWSER) - Dolly the cloned sheep died seven years ago, but she lives on in four new clones. “The Dollies,” exact genetic copies of their namesake, were cloned by the scientist behind the research that produced Dolly herself. “Dolly is alive and well. Genetically these are Dolly,” Keith Campbell tells the Daily Mail . Whereas it took 227 eggs to produce a surviving lamb—Dolly—the first time around, this time each Dolly needed only five embryos. More»

Cause of death a mystery

(NEWSER) - One of of the world's first two cloned wolves has died due to unknown causes, reports the Korea Times. Snuwolf, 4, was found dead at South Korea's national zoo. Her identical sister, Snuwolffy, remains healthy. "Snuwolf had been in good condition," said Prof. Shin Nam-sik, a leader of the team that cloned the pair. "Wild animals often die suddenly. We will know the cause of death with the results of the autopsy." More»

(NEWSER) - TV judge Jeanine Pirro has handed the freak show world a victory in the case of the 5-legged pup saved from a life on exhibit, the New York Daily News reports. Pirro ruled that the dog's original owner shouldn't have reneged on his deal to sell the animal to John Strong and awarded the Coney Island sideshow operator $4,000. Strong hailed the ruling but says he still wants the dog back from the woman who bought it to give it a normal life, even though it now only has four legs, thanks to surgery. More»