Pit bull cloning called irresponsible

WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- The Humane Society of the United States and the American Anti-Vivisection Society are calling pit bull cloning wasteful and irresponsible.

The organizations said they were upset by reports that five pit bull clones were created in South Korea by RNL Bio in cooperation with Seoul National University scientists.

"The pit bull is perhaps the most abused and persecuted dog breed in America and the money spent to clone this one pit bull could have been better used to help so many more," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The Humane Society.

The report said more than 99 percent of cloning attempts published in scientific journals fail to produce healthy animals. In those attempts, researchers created 3,656 genetically manipulated embryos and used more than 530 dogs and cats to produce five cloned dogs and 11 cloned cats surviving beyond 30 days

"Pit bulls are in crisis and the addition of five pit bull clones to the dog population is an inhumane and unnecessary endeavor," said Markarian.

"Between dog fighting, abuse and overpopulation, pit bulls today are in desperate need of help from the dog-loving community, not an escalation of the problem based on junk science," he said.