New Zealand halts trials to produce cloned farm animals. The state-operated agency AgResearch has announced a decision to drop a cloning program dating back 13 years after finding that 90% of the animals died during the trials. The agency’s report cites excessive suffering on the part of the animals with the main ailments listed as spontaneous abortions and an ultimately fatal condition known as hydrops, where the mother cow's womb fills with water. The report also notes that the cows, sheep and goats enduring the 13 years of trials also suffered from chronic arthritis, pneumonia, lameness and blood poisoning. In one experiment, three out of four calves injected with human DNA were born with ovaries that grew so large they ruptured at only six months of age, killing the young cows. We are thankful for New Zealand’s merciful decision to stop this cloning practice.

May all countries similarly stop the cruelty and unknown dangers of both genetic experimentation and livestock raising so that all beings may live in dignity and integrity as bestowed by the Divine.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1360166/New-Zealand-abandons-cloning-farm-animals-90-PER-CENT-died-trials.html#ixzz1EuLJEDPo
http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12185, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1360166/New-Zealand-abandons-cloning-farm-animals-90-PER-CENT-died-trials.html#ixzz1ErzKpMCp