Vegan Verve

Ruppy The Adorable Beagle Puppy

Scientists in South Korea have cloned a beagle which they have named Ruppy. What makes Ruppy world news? Well Ruppy happens to be the first transgenic dog. Ruppy and her four fellow beagles all exhibit fluorescent genes, particularly a red fluorescence that glows under a UV light. This gene is usually only present in sea anemones, mind you. You read correctly, this poor dog and her “littermates” all glow red under ultraviolet light.

First of all, I’m the first to say that I dislike cloning in general, but to clone a dog to make the poor puppy glow red? Then to parade her around the media like she is some tool of the trade? Wait, that is what they see her as unfortunately.

You didn't know dogs were SUPPOSED to glow? Catch up!

Why is this poor dog glowing red for all the world to see? Well, this is my favorite part. The scientists in South Korea stated: “I think these dogs will be a very useful model for our research. The next step for us is to generate a true disease model.” Wonderful! Hooray! Now dogs can not only be cloned but be destined for a life of a plethora of human diseases. I tell ya, what could be better?

“The long lifespan of dogs and their reproductive cycle could make them more relevant to human fertility than mice.” Oh golly gee. This is excellent news. Now those women who insist on being impregnated even though their bodies clearly do not believe they should be (what does nature know?) can potentially become pregnant more easily because of poor glowing puppies. Well, if I do say so myself it is well worth it to increase the world’s population (its not like we don’t have too many people already or anything) AND torture dogs that were brought into this world just for that purpose. Win-win!

The only glimmer of hope for future clones like Ruppy is the fact that many in the field believe the methods are too “laborious, expensive and slow” and that it is too expensive to care for “laboratory-reared dogs” to become common procedure. Unfortunately, this knowledge has not spared Ruppy or her pals from what I can only imagine will be a life of pain (mental, emotional and physical).

Dasy

Recently, a retired Navy SEAL’s dog, Dasy, was brutally killed in the front of his home in Texas. Four men are said to have pulled up to the house and shot Dasy, meanwhile laughing at what they had just done. Marcus Luttrell, the SEAL, then proceeded to chase the men through four Texas counties while phoning the police. The police eventually set up a barricade and captured the men.

However, only two are facing charges and only one has been apprehended. The man who is currently in jail, Alfonso Hernandez, is only facing a maximum of TWO YEARS in prison! Only two years!! Luttrell believes that all four men deserve to be punished, as the two not being accused, in Luttrell’s words, would be if they had killed a person. Luttrell stated: “That is the problem with people who kill dogs, if it was a person that would have been conspiracy to commit murder–all four of them would be in prison.”

Marcus Luttrell is the lone survivor of the worst loss of life in Navy SEAL’s history back in Afghanistan in 2005. Dasy was named after the initials of all the men in the group with Luttrell. Dasy was given to him when he was recovering from injuries from the same event that killed the other men. Luttrell stated that Dasy “was like a daughter” to him. Please sign this petition to give the men their maximum sentence, it is the least that we can do.

Also, view the video of Marcus Luttrell on Fox News Channel explaining his story. I wouldn’t usually direct one to Fox News but it is a story that should be heard and that was treated well by host Glenn Beck.