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South Korea Deploys Cloned Drug-Sniffing Dogs
Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that six puppies cloned from a Canadian-born sniffer dog in late 2007 have reported for duty to check for drugs at Seoul's Incheon International Airport after completing a 16-month training course. The customs agency says clones help to lower crime-fighting costs as it is difficult to find good sniffer dogs. Only about 30% of naturally-born sniffer dogs make the grade, but South Korean scientists say that could rise to 90% using the cloning method. The puppies, each called 'Toppy' for 'Tomorrow's Puppy,' are part of a litter of seven who were cloned from a 'superb' drug-sniffing Canadian Labrador retriever called Chase at a cost of about $239,000. 'They are the world's first cloned sniffer dogs deployed at work,' says customs spokesman Park Jeong-Heon. 'They showed better performances in detecting illegal drugs during the training than other naturally-born sniffer dogs that we have.'"
"Canine cloning runs contrary to the Kennel Club's objective 'To promote in every way the general improvement of dogs' ... Cloning cannot be used to make improvements because the technique simply produces genetic replicas of existing dogs." [src]
So what they have now are the best drug dogs they will ever have, their abilities can't improve any - they will be the same as the dog they were cloned from.
And when they retire they'll make for a tasty snack.
At $40K for a cloned-sniffer dog, you'd think it would be cheaper to just start a normal breeding program. Oh well, maybe they will get cheaper as they increase production.
I, for one, welcome our cloned drug-sniffing dog overlords.
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prohibition doesn't work and is a tremendous waste of resources.
'They showed better performances in detecting illegal drugs during the training than other naturally-born sniffer dogs that we have.'"
I assume these cloned dogs were naturally born too. But they were not naturally concieved.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
Considering the fairly large litter size and frequency that you can breed, this really doesn't make much sense when you look at the cost. One thing we have no problem with is breeding dogs and if priced right those that don't make the grade are easily adopted, helping to put some puppy mills out of business.
'Cause I'm ready for my own Semi-Autonomous Guard Unit.
In South Korea only cloned dogs sniff for drugs.
wouldn't it be cheaper to just end the drug war?
I have a dalmatian
with cloning i wonder if the spots be all the same shape on position?
anyone??
That should be Dolly the sheep. Clicked right through the preview.
With things like this, I cannot help but wonder how much of the claim is true and how much is just a bogus claim given in an attempt to make themselves appear to be better than they really are. I am not saying that this story is false. I do not know. However, history has shown that when groups invest considerable time and/or money in something (or they simply have something to prove), they want to claim they got the best results possible. Sometimes the claims are spot on. Other times, they either exaggerate their claims of "good results" or fail to mention the problems or failures that occurred along with their positive results.
I find a few examples of this in the article. For example, South Korea claims that the number of dogs that "meet the grade" required for sniffer dogs could rise to 90%. That is great.... but what is it now? The litter they created only had seven puppies. How can they claim that that number will eventually rise to 90%? Also, the article claims that the cloned sniffer dogs had better performance that naturally-born sniffer dogs. I do not know much about cloning, so I may be totally ignorant in this next statement. However, I fail to see how a clone can out-perform the original, unless their is some type of mutation or variation in every one of the offspring. To me, this suggests that either the results are being exaggerated or the puppies are not identical to the parent. If this is the case and the variations are that easy and significant, I want to know if there are negative variations (such as arthritis or other health problems) that they failed to mention.
But that is just my $0.02
In Canada, sniffer dogs come in bags.
Next step start cloning Storm Troopers
Dope Dog, an undercover narc with a bark, genetically engineered etc.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
"CBC reports that six soldiers cloned from Canadian-born Rick Hillier in late 2007 have reported for duty to check for terrorists in Afganistan after completing a 16-month training course. The Canadian Armed Forces says clones help to lower fighting costs as it is difficult to find good soldiers. Only about 30% of naturally-born soldiers make the grade, but Canadian scientists say that could rise to 90% using the cloning method. The soldier, each called 'Ricky', are part of a set of seven who were cloned from a 'superb' former chief of defense staff, General Rick Hillier, CMM, MSC, CD, at a cost of about $239,000. 'They are the world's first cloned soldiers deployed at work,' says current chief of defense General Walter Natynczyk. 'They showed better performances in detecting terrorists during the training than other naturally-born soldiers that we have.'"
So, how viable is dog cloning? Is it easy to clone dogs? The Wikipedia article mentions a success rate of one in 123. Is that one in 123 embryos? Is that considered to be a good or a bad result? Also, do the cloned animals have a normal life expectancy? I seem to remember there were some problems with cloned animals dying quicker than "normal" animals.
Really curious about this, haven't heard much about it since Dolly.
So, a drug-sniffing dog and a bomb-sniffing dog are having a drink after work, talking a little shop. Drug-sniffing dog whispers, "Hey, see that woman over there? She's got a gram of cocaine in her purse."
Bomb-sniffing dog says, "See that man over at the bar, the one with the duck on his head? He's about to have a really bad day."
--I'm so big, my sig has its own sig.
-- See?
If they had just used blood hounds or beagles instead of labrador retrievers, they would have a much higher percentage of passable dogs.
Everyone knows blood hounds and beagles have better noses than retrievers.
They're using their grammar skills there.
why are they cloning better drug dogs, when you could completely solve the problem simply by cloning people who aren't drug dealers?
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
Everybody knows this is just a cover for their work towards zerglings!
"...part of a litter of seven who were cloned..." but "...six puppies...have reported for duty..." -- what happened to the seventh?
I for one welcome our new drug-sniffing overlords!
I'm sure whatever body governs horse racing will object/prevent this, but can you imagine. Instead of putting your champion horse to stud, you just allow him to be cloned. 12 identical horses competing against each other.
?
Make enough to crash the prices, and destroy the profit motive for maintaining a market. Everybody wins! :-)
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
Hasn't the ban on smoking in public places had any effect? I'm certainly a big fan of that one.
On another note, would you like big tobacco firms to be given the product of their dreams to sell? How do you think society would cope with that - same as with smoking?
This is all just my personal opinion.
Identical twins have different fingerprints. The same principal probably applies to spots.
If the world cloned more Canadians, it would likely be a nicer place. :)
It costs a lot to train a sniffer dog, far more than $40k, but any electronic equivalent would most likely be much more expensive. Especially a self-guided one.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
There are two things about the illegal drugs situation that the South Koreans should consider.
One is that there are basically three types of illegal drugs: the addictive opiates, the 'boosters' activity-increasing drugs like amphetamines/cocaine, and the mind-expander/entertainment/recreationals like marijuana/hashish/cannibus or the psychedelics like LSD/ecstasy.
The recreationals are basically a political problem. They are only a problem because the politicians say that they are. For society, they are neutral. They increase creativity and productivity in some people, but not in most people. Korea would probably be a little better off if the politicians look the other way at any weed/psychedelic use. Roughly 25% of middle class Americans have been using these drugs at various times of their lives with no real ill-effect on society. The positive effects of these drugs on creativity and their ability to dissipate anti-government political activity means that their use wouldn't be a real problem for Korea. (I know you disagree, but this is the basic reality of the situation). Of course, it will never happen in Korea.
The boosters are a problem when the manager class in Korea quietly encourages or ignores their use in order to get people to work longer and harder, two or more jobs. This is their main function in the USA. These are harmful substances and will destroy public health with their wide use. The government should discourage the manager class from promoting these drugs onto their workers. Of course, it will never happen in Korea.
The real danger is the addictive opiates such as heroin. They change basic body chemistry to make it nearly impossible to stop taking them after the addiction transformation, which happens after a few weeks of constant use. Then huge powerful corrupt criminal organizations form to supply this drug to addicts. The addicts provide the drug to non-addicts to get new customers to pay for their own addiction. There is huge increase in theft and prostitution resulting from the introduction of heroin.
South Korea lives next door to a huge violent corrupt criminal organization across its northern border. When these criminals decide to flood the south with huge amounts of heroin, there will be little that the South Koreans can do to stop them. This would lead to a new very-bloody round of the endless Korean civil war, which nobody wants at this time. Having clone dope-sniffing dogs at the airport will do nothing to keep North Korean heroin out of the South, because the North will use tunnels and boats to bring the heroin into the South. It is possible, but not likely, that a renegade force of the North Korean army will start a drug trade in the South to get money and power for their group. It is more likely that these splinter North Korean criminal gangs will supply illegal booster-types drugs to Japan and the Philippines.
Primarily the dope-sniffing dogs will be used to find harmless amounts of recreational/entertainment drugs on tourists and western backpackers. Then the authorities will make a big show of imposing draconian and brutal penalties on these unlucky but harmless tourists in order to show that they are 'tough' on 'decadent western influences and lifestyles'.
However if it weren't for decadent western influences and lifestyles, they would still be as dirt-poor and primitive as they were in 1953. Just another example of Asian duplicity, hypocrisy, and cruelty. Ever wonder why millions of American college graduates are trying to move to crime-ridden neighborhoods in Asian cities in order to open little grocery stores so that their children can have a hope of a better future?
So, Sniff my willie!
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
That and they could have tried probably about 300 hundred dogs and of those, probably at least a 100 of those that were in that 30 percentile that were 'good sniffers'. Instead they have 16. Granted, there would be training costs, but given the huge number advantage from just buying dogs and getting a 3rd of them that are good sniffers it seems like a waste of time and resources.
These dogs are hilarious to watch- they are oddly similar. It is like you are in the Matrix and you notice the same dog over an over again- Uh Oh! Or the video game developer couldn't afford art assets for more than one dog geometry- but its real!
Mixed feelings about escalating the drug-war technology. We had an airport in South Carolina evacuated in fear of a bomb threat, because a sniffer dog alerted authorities about a soap star's dainty purse with a reefer hidden inside it. Gotta decide what you want dogs looking for, bombs or drugs.
Of course they have trained dogs and pigs to sniff for cancer, so this is an area of technology where there can be other spin offs.
A 239000$ dog will make seizure of 25$ hash stick from citizen cheaper and more effective. Lets assume that police dogs live 10 years, and work every day. If this dog can sniff on average 2.6 hash sticks more than regular dog in one day,he will cover his costs with hashish. The only problem with this plan is that there is no way for a government to get economical or other benefits from confiscated drugs.
Now you can sniff out more non-violent, non-harmful, every day citizens! I mean, come on, enough is enough. The government has no right to step in and say I can't consume a certain substance like marijuana. Now they got these dumbass koreans cloning dogs for it? What next, they gonna try to clone people to increase their army? Fuck those bastards
followed by doctors, then presidents, finally girlfriends.