9/11 rescue dog cloned

James Symington, a former Canadian police officer, choked back tears as he took possession of five puppies cloned from his beloved German shepherd named Trakr, who died earlier this year. 

The decision to clone Trakr came after the animal won a competition to find the world's most "cloneworthy" dog which was organised organised by Californian firm BioArts International.
  
Mr Symington says he hopes the puppies -- Trustt, Valor, Prodigy, Solace and Deja Vu – will follow Trakr's footsteps.
  
"We're here to celebrate that Trakr's legacy lives on in these five beautiful puppies," he says. 

"If they have the same attributes Trakr did, then hopefully they'll develop into world class search and rescue dogs."

Trakr saved lives
  
Mr Symington and Trakr were one of the first K9 search and rescue teams on the site of the World Trade Center collapse, commonly referred to as Ground Zero.
  
Trakr worked non-stop for almost 48 hours and found last human survivor to be rescued from the rubble.
 
"Trakr was an extraordinary search and rescue dog. His work at Ground Zero was the culmination of his career," Mr Symington says.
  
An exact replica of Trakr

Mr Symington says that one member of his new litter -- Trustt -- was an exact replica of Trakr.
  
"The physical similarities are uncanny," Mr he says.

 "He's the spitting image of the Trakr that I first met in 1995. He has exactly the same markings, the way he moves, everything. Very alert, very intelligent and intuitive.
  
"I respect that cloning's not for everyone. But there are few dogs that are born with extraordinary abilities and Trakr was one of those dogs," he says.
  
"I look forward to the day that these puppies can follow in Trakr's footsteps and play an important role in other rescues, like Trakr did."

Cloning still too expensive
  
BioArts International, which says it offers the world's first commercial dog cloning service, partnered with South Korea's SooAm Biotech Research Foundation to clone Trakr.
  
BioArts International chief executive Lou Hawthorne says canine cloning would remain beyond the reach of ordinary pet lovers, with cloned dogs costing an average 144,000 dollars each.
  
Mr Hawthorne defended the right of people to clone their dogs instead of obtaining new pets from rescue shelters.
  
"I think 99 percent of the time people should get their pets from shelters," he says.
  
"But can we agree though that one percent of the time if you have a one in a million dog and you have the money to pay for it, you should be able to go to either a breeder or a cloner?"