Grieving Woman Pays RM98,000 To Clone Dead Dog Using Skin Sample
The woman, known only as Xu, made the extraordinary decision after the passing of her beloved Doberman, Joker.
By Sukhbir Cheema — 11 Mar 2025, 05:37 PM
In Hangzhou, China, a woman spent 160,000 yuan (RM98,000) to clone her beloved pet dog
The woman, known only as Xu, made the extraordinary decision after the passing of her beloved Doberman, Joker.
According to South China Morning Post, Joker had been her protector and companion for over a decade, standing by her through life’s ups and downs.
His death in November 2022, following a heart attack, left her devastated.
Xu took the chance to clone her dead dog when the opportunity arose.
Image via South China Morning PostFollowing the dog's death, Xu's health suffered, and she struggled to sleep. But with a background in the medical field, she had been following developments in pet cloning for years
When the opportunity arose to bring Joker back — at least in genetic form — she took it.
Cloning pets is not illegal in China, though it remains an ethically grey area.
The process involves extracting a skin sample from the deceased pet, combining it with an egg cell from another animal to create an embryo, and implanting it in a surrogate mother.
The result is a near-identical twin of the original pet, albeit born years apart.
A year after Joker's passing, Xu welcomed Little Joker into her home. The resemblance was uncanny — not just in looks, but in quirks too
The new dog had the same black spot near its nose, the same habit of stealing socks, and even carried around Joker’s old leash.
But Xu knew better than to see him as a replacement.
"Caring for this new life helped me temporarily forget the pain of losing Joker."
Her decision sparked debate online. Some praised her for keeping Joker’s memory alive, while others questioned whether cloning was an ethical way to cope with grief.
