Toronto man spends US$80,000 to clone his dead dog

Dog owner clones dead pooch A Toronto man pays big money to keep the memory of his dead dingo shepherd alive.

After his beloved dog died, a Toronto man spared no expense to have Woofie cloned.

When Woofie, a 20-year-old dingo shepherd cross, passed away last August, Matthew Johnson told CTV Toronto that he was devastated.

“I would compare it secondary to losing my mother,” he said.

Not wanting to say goodbye to his canine best friend, Johnson contacted an American company to clone Woofie.

The procedure wasn’t cheap.

The cloning cost US$80,000 but for Johnson, it was worth every penny. He told CTV Toronto that he would recommend it to any dog owner who doesn’t want to part with their pet.

“If you have the money do it,” he said. “If you love your dog and your dog meant that much to you it’s definitely worth it.”

The company managed to create two genetic replicates of his dog; one named Blondie and one named Woofie Jr.

Johnson met the clone dogs a few days ago and said the first encounter with the puppies was surreal.

“Like holy **** that’s Woofie!” he said. “The mole, the colouring, […] they have the exact same markings. The only way we can tell them apart is that Blondie’s a little heavier.”

According to Johnson the dogs’ temperaments are also similar to the original Woofie.

“You can tell this one stays close to me. I know they’re both Woofie but I think this one was the first one and pretty much their temperaments are the same,” he said.

Both dogs are healthy and happy and, according to the company that cloned the dogs, they should both live as long as the original pup.