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
• 2009: BVA Ethics and Welfare Group agreed a position on cloning and agreed to support the FVE review paper (PDF)

Further information

• FAWC - Implications of Cloning for the Welfare of Farmed Livestock
• EFSA Opinion on Cloning
• FVE – Review Paper on Animal Cloning
• FSA pages on novel foods