Dog owners plan to spend $50,000 on cloning, inspired by Milei

Javier Milei’s dogs have not been seen in public or photographed in years. It is not even known how many of his “four-legged children” are currently roaming the Argentine presidential residence. And speculation is rife that one of them is speaking to him from beyond the grave.

Despite the mystery and mystique surrounding English Mastiffs, or perhaps because of it, the dogs have become figures of fascination and celebrity. Today, they also inspire Brazilian and Argentinian pet owners to start the cloning process that Milei used to create genetic copies of her favorite dog.

PerPETuate Inc., which describes itself as “the world’s first and largest pet genetic preservation company,” says sales of its cell lines – a type of DNA collection – have increased 15% through ‘now this year. The process costs US$1,200 and is the first step towards the much more expensive cloning procedure, which costs around US$50,000.

Co-founder Ron Gillespie credits Milei with boosting sales this year, as his presidency created a cascade of publicity and interest for Massachusetts-based PerPETuate. He estimates his company received 40 to 50 new customers from Brazil and Argentina combined this year, boosting overall sales.

“Particularly in Latin America, it’s led to a wave of new business,” Gillespie says, referring to Milei’s advertising. “It legitimizes it when there’s a big person doing it and knowing about it.”

Gillespie says Milei contacted him in 2014 about creating a cell line for his dog Conan, named after the barbarian. The animal died a few years later, but remains a central figure in the president’s life. A biography of Milei states that he communicates with the dog through a mystic.

Milei switched to cloning in 2017, and the following year, a cell line unexpectedly produced five cloned dogs — a rarity in the doghouse industry — according to Gillespie, who lives in Hawaii.

A spokesperson for Milei did not respond to requests for comment.

Milei keeps her pups out of the spotlight, but brings them up regularly in interviews and on social media. In his victory speech on election night, he thanked Milton, Murray, Robert and Lucas, all of whom are named after economists Milei admires. He also greeted Conan, although it was unclear whether he was referring to the fifth cloned dog or the original. Or both.

He engraved their faces on his presidential mace on the day of his inauguration, even provoking a burst of laughter shared with his political opponent, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Milei says he starts his day by visiting his dogs in their separate kennels.

Gillespie confirmed one of Milei’s challenges with cloned animals: They don’t get along. The Argentine president said in extracts that his dogs were separated into individual kennels within the gated community of Olivos, a suburb of Buenos Aires, to avoid fights.

“What we find is that when you have multiple dogs or cats, they’re all the same, and establishing a hierarchy is a very difficult process,” Gillespie says, adding that training is often required to establish a hierarchy. “They’ll fight, and when they’re younger, you’re going to have to make an effort to keep them separate.”

by Patrick Gillespie, Bloomberg