CGS : Assembly committee rejects ban on cloned pets [California]

With several lawmakers abstaining, an Assembly committee Tuesday rejected a bill that would ban the sale of cloned or genetically altered cats, dogs and other pets.

The measure by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Sherman Oaks, needed at least six votes to clear the Business and Professions Committee. It got two. Four lawmakers voted against the bill and four didn't vote.

Bill supporters said cloning of pets raises ethical questions and creates animals with health problems and short life spans. Genetically altering pets could lead to unintended consequences.

"We don't need vanity pets," Levine said. "There's an ample supply of dogs and cats available."

Richard Hayes, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, said cloning pets could pave the way for cloned or genetically altered human beings. "We are truly at a civilization threshold," he added.

But Lou Hawthorne, chief executive officer of Genetic Savings and Clone, a Sausalito-based business that bills itself as the only pet cloning company, said the cloning method it uses has produced cats that closely resemble the original animals and have normal life expectancies.

He said his efforts could lead to the use of cloning to save endangered species.

Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, suggested that if California banned pet cloning companies that provide that service would spring up in neighboring states.

"We are not going to be able to safeguard our borders," he said. "If there's a demand out there for this product or service it will be satisfied in some way."

Levine said the issue should be address on a national level "but the federal government has yet to step up. By taking this step we can send a message to the federal government"

Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Garden Grove, said pet owners who want to clone a beloved pet should be able to have it done "if it's done humanely."

But Levine said giving pet owners that option requires other animals to go through surgeries to get and germinate the eggs used in cloning.

"I don't believe this bill is premature," he said. "If we wait too long and this technology gets out there, we could be trying to close the barn door after the horses are out."

Assembly members Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, and Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, voted for the bill. Tran and Assembly members Shirley Horton, R-Bonita, Bill Maze, R-Visalia, and Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, voted no.

Nation and Assembly members Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles, Gloria Negrete McLeod, D-Chino, and Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, didn't vote.

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