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Poor old Trakr. Once hailed as a hero, the retired Halifax police dog can no longer use the hind legs that pushed him through the ruins of the World Trade Center as he sniffed for survivors. His hearing has faded and, at 15, his dog days seemed numbered – until science gave him a second chance at life.
A California genetics company has selected the German shepherd to be one of the world's first commercially cloned pets after his master – a former Canadian police officer now pursuing an acting career in Los Angeles – won an essay contest with a futuristic prize.
The company will ship Trakr's DNA sample to the lab of its South Korean partner this month, and Tracker's double should be nipping at his tail by the end of the year.
“If he shows even 70 per cent of what Tracker had as far as skills, intuition and courage – then without question I'm going to dust off my search-and-rescue gear and we'll go back to work,” said James Symington, 42, who learned on Sunday that he'll soon have a copy of his teammate and best friend.
Trakr, a German shepherd, poses with owner James Symington in Los Angeles earlier this week. The dog that sniffed out survivors from under the rubble of New York's World Trade Center after the 2001 terror strikes is to be cloned, the California-based firm conducting the procedure said. (Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images)
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But while cloning may sound sensible to any bereaved pet owner, the race to make a doggie version of Dolly the sheep has attracted its share of controversy, including a patent dispute involving BioArts and unanswered questions about the long-term health of cloned animals.
And while pet owners may soon be able to drop a small fortune for a facsimile of Fido, medical ethicists say there are no guarantees that Fido II's personality will match his friendly, loyal predecessor.
“The same dog can be a loving pet or a brutal killer depending on how it's raised,” says Arthur Schafer, director of the University of Manitoba's Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics. “If the demand for cloning is coming from wealthy pet owners, I think they're in for disappointment. The technology is in its very early days.”
The conjoined careers of Trakr and Mr. Symington were launched in 1995, when Trakr arrived from Czechoslovakia and helped Mr. Symington start Halifax's first canine police unit. The pair spent the next six years sniffing out drugs, bad guys and the odd missing person.
When the planes hit New York in 2001, the pair hopped in a car and drove to ground zero. Trakr played a role in locating the last person found alive in the ruins, Mr. Symington said, and was given a humanitarian award and a kiss from anthropologist Jane Goodall for his efforts. “I got a hug and a kiss as well,” Mr. Symington said.
But 9/11 marked the end of policing for dog and owner. Mr. Symington was suspended in the fall of 2001 for his rescue efforts, as he was off work on sick leave at the time. The police department launched a criminal investigation when he returned to Halifax, and at one point considered charging him with fraud.
The investigation was eventually dropped, but Mr. Symington was fired in 2005. A series of legal battles followed, with Mr. Symington trying to sue the police force and its union.
Since 2003, Mr. Symington and his wife, Angeline McCarthy of Highlands, Nfld., have been living in Los Angeles, where Mr. Symington is pursuing acting and also shelters dogs in need.
Trakr, now disabled because of a neurological condition, is spending his retirement watching television and rolling down the beach with the help of a doggie wheelchair, Mr. Symington said.
In May, Mr. Symington was watching the news when he heard about BioArt's Golden Clone Giveaway essay contest, which ended on June 24.
“Once in a lifetime,” Mr. Symington wrote, “a dog comes along that not only captures the hearts of all he touches but also plays a pivotal role in history.”
Lou Hawthorne, founder of the company based near San Francisco, said the company received more than 200 essays, but Trakr was the clear winner because of his professional achievements.
BioArts – a year-old company that says it has the sole worldwide licence for the cloning of dogs, cats and endangered species – will be cloning Trakr along with five more pet canines. Those spots will be auctioned off online this week. Bidding starts at $100,000.
A second South Korean genetic company, RNL Bio, is expecting the birth of what it describes as the first commercially cloned dogs later this month. The cloning of Booger, an American woman's now-deceased pit bull terrier, has prompted BioArts to threaten legal action against the company for infringing on its patent licences.
Mr. Hawthorn, who recently cloned his own dog, Missy, says the oldest of the six clones, now just over six months old, is already showing signs of the original's cheeky but loyal spirit, he said.
“Many people have had the experience of a one-in-a-million pet,” he said. “Even some pretty hardcore critics would say, ‘If I had a copy of Rex, the dog I had at 14, that would be a great pet now.'”
Mr. Symington is crossing his fingers that even a portion of his beloved pet's personality will live on.
“My hopes are that it could be a version of Trakr,” he said. “Not that I think you could ever replace Trakr, because I know you can't.”
