For Pet's Sake Column

It’s been six long years since my beloved cat Cassidy passed away. I spent the last few minutes of his life saying goodbye to him in much the same way I spent the first few minutes saying hello: by gazing into his enormous sapphire blue eyes and stroking his dappled taupe and white fur.

It all started in 1994. I was taking a mid-morning power walk through the business park where I worked. As I rounded a corner, I spied a bedraggled cat sitting alone on the concrete steps of an old, abandoned warehouse. I would never know how this poor cat came to be living here, as there were no houses nearby, but I did know one thing: he would be coming home to live the rest of his life with me.

As the months and years passed, Cassidy and I became inseparable. Being around this angel-in-a-cat’s-body profoundly altered the way I looked at life and taught me valuable lessons about compassion, patience, and loving unconditionally. All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. At 16, although his spirit was still strong, Cassidy’s body succumbed to the ravages of time. As our veterinarian gently slid the needle into Cassidy’s frail leg, I closed my eyes, hoping to erase the heartbreaking scenario unfolding before me. If you had asked me at that moment if I would spend $50,000 to have my cherished friend cloned, I might very well have handed over my credit card and, through tear-filled eyes, croaked out a desperate yes.

As it turns out, there was a company that could have helped me in my quest for a feline facsimile of Cassidy.

Genetic Savings and Clone, a biotechnology company, launched by billionaire and University of Phoenix founder John Sperling, opened for business in 2000 with the intent of cloning pet cats and dogs. A new era, it seemed, had been born. Since that time, scientists have successfully cloned five cats; which included little CC (for Copy Cat). Ultimately the venture failed, though, because of little demand and the company closed its doors for good earlier this month.

The more I think about it, the more I consider cloning to be creepy. I wondered how many failed attempts at duplicating a life occurred before a perfect kitten was born. And, what gives us the right to fiddle with Fluffy’s genes when there are millions of cats and dogs at animal shelters around the country right now that are quite literally dying to be someone’s treasured companion? If I had actually given scientists consent to clone Cassidy, I would later have been handed a kitten that may have resembled him, but wasn’t the same cat. Animals, after all, are not just strings of molecules, they are who they are as a result of their life experiences as well.

I’ll never know what Cassidy endured during much of his early life, but I do know that whatever brought him to that old warehouse on that fateful rainy day was a series of events – both good and bad – that made him the wise and wonderful old soul that he was. I now realize that I would never want to devalue Cassidy’s uniqueness by duplicating his DNA.

My cat died, but my memories of him will live forever. Rest in peace, angel.

Karen would like to hear your comments on cloning. Send your responses to karenleestevens@cox.net and be sure to send a carbon copy to her editor at jgordon@santabarbarafree.com.