Articles

 

Cloned SAR Dogs Aim to Help People Worldwide

Maryann Mott

Dog Fancy magazine

May 2010

 

 

 

 

Imagine an elite search and rescue team of not one but five German shepherd clones – all genetic doubles of a 9/11 canine hero who located the last human survivor buried beneath smoldering rubble.

This doggie dream team may sound like part of a sci-fi movie, but they’re not. Meet Team Trakr: Trustt, Solace, Valor, Prodigy and Dejav. The handsome black- and-tan shepherds are a duplicate of Trakr, a police K9 and search-and-rescue dog with an impressive career who recently passed away at age 16.

The dogs were cloned for free after James Symington, a former police officer and Trakr’s partner, won “The World’s Most Clone Worthy Dog” contest held last year by a now defunct commercial animal cloning company.

“I am already recognizing some of the same traits that contributed to Trakr’s success – strong play and prey drives, heart and determination and the ability to problem solve,” says Symington of his unique canine brood.

This summer Symington, a Los Angeles resident, begins the necessary 600 hundred hours of intense training to create the privately funded search-and- rescue team.

Symington hopes to deploy his team internationally by the end of the year to locate people lost or trapped after natural and manmade disasters. Last year, he says, 321 disasters worldwide took more than 200,000 lives.

“Team Trakr is not about holding on to the past,” he says. “It’s about continuing the extraordinary legacy of one remarkable dog.”

 

 

 

Maryann Mott is a pet writer based in Arizona.