• Mysterious ailment may threaten state bats. (Freedom)
• A first in Iran: cloned goat. (page 7a)
• Flying W Ranch ready to go out to pasture, owner says. (Sayre)
• Faced with cost increases, diary will focus on quality. (Tuttle)
• Oklahoma’s funnies dogs selected. (statewide)
• Pet Tales: Fitting in with family; Tux takes to trees. (Oklahoma City)

Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll

Imagine a world where you never had to lose your pet. Or at least, not for good. BioArts International, a California biotech company is planning an online auction to clone five dogs. The auction is cleverly titled “Best Friends Again.” The dogs will be the first canines to be cloned for commercial sale.

Depending on your feelings about the ethics of cloning, this may or may not sound like a perfect solution if you are one of many pet lovers. However, this dream come true is not cheap. Bidding for the auction will start at $100.000. The regulations even require proof of $250,000 in cash or assets before bidders are allowed to enter.

Scientists can create clones from dogs that are alive or dead, provided that tissue samples were taken before the pet died or within the first five days after its death and frozen in liquid nitrogen. One drawback to pet owners will be that although dogs are guaranteed to look exactly the same, they are not guaranteed to behave the same. Nevertheless, BioArts hopes to target pet owners who will see cloning as the next best thing.

-Staff Writer Monica Albert