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Opinions & Editorials on line today:
1. Cloning a Champion Coton de Tulear
Cloning a Champion Coton de Tulear
First a sheep, then a monkey, now a Champion Coton de Tulear!
NEW YORK, NY. In a news conference March 8th, a spokesperson for the Coton de Tulear show dog fancy announced that a secret experiment in cloning a Champion Coton de Tulear proved successful "beyond our wildest dreams." The cloned Coton was born in a secret, east coast location in November, 1996, from an implanted bit of a famous Champion Coton. The spokesperson declined to disclose what body part of the champion produced the identical offspring's DNA.
The spokesperson noted that because of cloning, puppy buyers would pay extra for a cloned champion but "would no longer have to spend a long weekend in a parking lot somewhere to get their new companion his World/International Championship. Now, all the Cotons we sell will be born champions! Every buyer will get xeroxed Championship papers and copies of all the ribbons for a modest extra charge!"
"Think of the advantages," she continued, "no more Coton sex acts which so disturb a show dog's coat! No more politics of the show ring. No more time spent disputing a judge's judgement or paying to stuff our newsletters with pictures of judges posing next to our dogs."
Dr. Robert Jay Russell of the Coton de Tulear Club of America responded negatively when asked about the cloning experiment. "It was bad enough when show dog fanciers line-bred their champion studs," he said, "now, with tens-of-thousands of cloned Cotons possible, the breed will lose all its valuable genetic diversity virtually overnight! The beautiful Black & White and Tri-color Cotons, long rejected by the show fanciers, will disappear." Dr. Russell added, "Cloning is biologically unsound and a potential disaster for all dog breeds, not just the Coton de Tulear. Who knows what deleterious traits will be permanently cloned-in to a breed?"
Responding to Dr. Russell, the Show Fancy's spokesperson stated, "Once again, Dr. Russell is attacking the Coton show fancy for no good reason. Him and his stupid, big word, scientific stuff. The nerve! With our cloned champion, we have realized all our dreams. Apart from a slight problem with the cloned dog's temperament, we Show people now have the perfection we've sought since October of 1995. We have a toy-sized Coton that's all white, with black nose pigment and excellent black eye rings."
We ask you, dear reader, to make up your own mind on this important subject. To view an exclusive, Coton News & Information Network photograph of this "ideal" show fancy Coton, please click --> HERE.
Title and contents of The Coton de Tulear News & Information Network © 1997, the Coton de Tulear Club of America, all rights reserved. Celebrating the CTCA's 21st Anniversary in 1997.
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