Seeing double: Why Instagram influencers are cloning their dogs and cats | National Post

Pet influencers on Instagram can bring in a sizable income, but what happens when the dog or cat behind the account dies? This picture taken on June 29, 2016 shows cloned dogs in a glass-fronted pen at a care room of the Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, a world leader in pet cloning, in Seoul. Pet cloning is now becoming popular among Instagram influencers. Photo by JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images Letting go of a beloved pet is painful, but it doesn’t have to be goodbye for good—thanks to companies that can clone dogs and cats. That’s exactly what a group of Instagram influencers are doing. Advertisement This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. ViaGen Pets offers genetic preservation and cloning services that promise to produce living pet replicas. The process comes with hefty price tags: US$50,000 for dogs and US$35,000 for cats. Although it seems far-fetched, it has become a reality for some pet owners. The same company cloned Barbara Streisand’s Coton de Tulear after the dog died in 2017. Since then, the popularity of pets as influencers, or petfluencers, has grown. Documenting the adorable lives of animals on social media is now a lucrative job . Dogs…
Read More