West Boca couple first in U.S. to own cloned dog
Lab puppy looks like he did last time
WEST BOCA RATON--Making his way around his West Boca Mansion, Lancelot Encore seems like any other yellow Labrador puppy.
But for Nina and Edgar Otto this 10-week-old bundle of joy is a science miracle worth celebrating.
"It's Christmas, birthdays, 4th of July all rolled into one," said Edgar Otto.
That's because Lancelot Encore is truly the encore of Lancelot, the couple's previous yellow lab who died of cancer in January of 2008.
That's right, the new Lancelot is a clone of the old dog.
The Otto's had gotten their beloved canine's DNA 5 years ago, before it ever got sick.
"It was just a matter of getting DNA and freezing it, because they were not cloning dogs then," said Nina Otto.
And when the original Lancelot passed, the science of cloning dogs supposedly had been perfected by a Seoul, South Korea company called Bio Arts International. Their slogan, what if you could be best friends again?
"We did it just to do it, see what happens," said Nina Otto.
It took a couple of times before a dog was impregnated successfully. But a few months and $155,000 later their Lancelot arrived on a transatlantic flight Monday night and the Otto's say he looks exactly like the first one.
"The original Lancelot had 1 big habit, we are waiting to see if he does this: He had a habit of crossing his paws, he would sit there that way," said Nina Otto.
