Cloned Dogs Used As Drug Sniffers In South Korea

In the best traditions of science fiction, South Korea is creating a population of working animal clones. Six puppies – all genetic clones of a Labrador retriever skilled at sniffing out contraband drugs – are now in service at the Incheon International Airport and other customs checkpoints.

Using the clones of the dogs that are genetically predisposed to being good drug sniffers eases the financial burden on South Korea’s customs service. It turns out finding a good sniffing dog can be quite a challenge. Making clones of the dogs that were already identified to be good sniffers would eliminate any such costs, provided the cost of cloning is still less that the cost of screening the sniffing abilities of young pups. Despite the genetic predisposition of the cloned puppies to drug sniffing, they still had to go through 16 months of training.