The former president of Iceland has boasted that a clone of his dog Samur has been born nine months after his original pet passed away.
The ex first dog of Iceland was a German Shepherd and Icelandic sheepdog cross, and had been with the family for seven years before it died on January 29th this year.
The ex-politician Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, 72, and his wife Dorrit Moussaieff, 69, said they had made the decision to seek a clone of their dog last autumn when it was still alive, and contacted a company in Texas that specialises in creating clones of pets.
In a Twitter posting that included a picture of the puppy, he wrote: “For those who followed the sad news of our beloved #Samur passing away earlier this year, we now share the splendid, somewhat unbelievable, report that now #Samson has been borne in the USA due to the process of cloning. More news and pictures on Dorrit’s Instagram!”
The dog’s name, Samson means, the son of Samur which follows the Icelandic tradition of providing names that indicate parentage.
The new arrival was born on 25 October weighing a healthy 684 grammes and measuring 28 centimetres.
There was also a birth certificate provided as part of the service that reportedly shows his little paw prints.
Olafur stepped down from the leadership of the country in 2016 and it was not revealed how much he paid for the service, but normally costs in the region of around 6 million ISK (43,000 GBP)
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Story By: Sofija Dizdarevik, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
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