It was news when the Korea Customs Service (KCS) embarked on a state funded project with the Seoul National University to clone their outstanding drug sniffing dog, Chase a Canadian Labrador Retriever. The theory was simple enough, however no one was sure if the sniffing traits were genetic and if the clones would live up to the founder.
The seven clones of Chase were born in late 2007 as a result of the project. The clones were named Toppy short for “Tomorrows Puppy”. In April of 2008 the seven cloned dogs started their 16 month training program under the direction of the KCS. Only about 30% of natural bred dogs that enter the intensive training become “sniffer” dogs. The dogs are ranked numerically on how they do during training. The KCS has been keeping track of the scores since they started breeding sniffer dogs back in 1986. According to the records the low end of the passing dogs score a little over 60 and at the high end score a little over 70. The five of the cloned dogs scored higher than 80 and one scored 90 the highest marks ever. Note one of the clone dogs was pulled from training due to an injury. He is recovering from his injury and is expected to reenter training as he showed outstanding ability.
Clones reporting for duty
The six clones reported for duty at Incheon International Airport in late July to begin their life as a “sniffer dog”. You can say they hit the ground running. In less than a month on duty one of the clones named Tosun detected three grams of narcotics in an envelope stored in a tightly zipped bag at Incheon Airport. “It’s a great achievement” said Kim Dae-Keun a customs official with the KCS, “Ordinary sniffers have to undergo a longer period of getting accustomed to the working conditions.”
The success of this project gives hopes to the many people that wait for the small supply of top service dogs to help them get through a normal day. The superior traits are genetic and cloning can increase the number of dogs coming out of training programs because the graduation rates will be nearer the 90% mark instead of the 20 to 30% mark it is today.
You will be interested to know that Chase the founder of the Toppies retired the day his clones went into service and is enjoying life.
We are pleased to announce the launch of our brand new website which features a more aesthetically pleasing and user friendly interface as well as this new news section which will serve to help keep you up-to-date on news and happenings in the pet cloning industry.
Through this new site, we hope to foster better communications with you, our clients and friends, in order to propel the cloning industry into the future.
