Cloning of animals

The cloning of animals raises many ethical issues and BVA asks for specific controls

Dolly, the first cloned sheep, was born in 1997 and sparked a worldwide debate on the ethics of cloning. Subsequent cloning efforts have raised serious concerns regarding the welfare of the individual animals produced through cloning methods.

BVA position

the cloning of animals should not be commercialised in the UK
if cloning is performed then procedures should comply with the 3 Rs: replacement, refinement, reduction
registration of cloned animals should be explored
the public should be aware that companion animals will not have the same behaviour as the animal they were cloned from
products from cloned animals and their offspring do not pose a public food safety risk.

BVA activity

2012: Responded to a European Commission Consultation on cloning animals for food production
2010: BVA’s Production Animal Group considered the public safety aspects of cloned food and amended the BVA position