A woman who was left devasted after the death of her dog spent nearly a year trying to clone him. Now that she’s been successful, she’s opening up about why she’s had second thoughts about the decision and the heavy price tag.
Venessa Johnson told the Daily Mail that she wasn’t expecting to adopt when she fostered her dog Oliver back in 2013. However, she fell in love with the then-6-year-old Shih Tzu, recognizing him as “the sweetest, most gentle boy.”
She and Oliver had 11 years together before he died in 2024.
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While grieving, she stumbled upon information about pet cloning and decided to explore the option. What followed was an 11-month process she described as “a cycle of hope and disappointment.”
After spending $50,000 and trying three times, she was successful. Her puppy Ollie was born, and he looked “exactly the same” as Oliver.
However, she admitted that she did “question her decision,” saying that she had processed her grief more by the time that Ollie arrived.
Johnson explained that she was now left trying to adjust to life with a puppy after years of caring for a more senior dog.
Instead of pursuing cloning a second time, she said, “I likely would have gone to a shelter and adopted an older dog — and I can see now that I would have been able to open my heart to another dog, and that an older dog may have fit my lifestyle more easily than a puppy.”
She might have second guessed her decision, but she doesn’t regret it, explaining that she “love[s] Ollie deeply” and that “he has — and continues to heal my heart in ways I didn’t anticipate.”
Oliver and Ollie are exact replicas of each other. However, Johnson said that she wasn’t sure what her older dog was like as a puppy, meaning that it’s impossible to fully compare them.
There are some key similarities between them, though.
“Ollie shares many of the same mannerisms, quirks, and overall temperament as Oliver, which has been a really special and unexpected experience,” she said.
Addressing criticism that she’s faced about cloning a pet, Johnson added that she does still volunteer at animal shelters and plans on fostering again when the time is right.
“I think what often makes people uncomfortable isn’t the idea of helping animals, but the amount of money involved,” she speculated. “Any disposable income — whether it’s spent on travel, a car, a home, or something deeply personal like this — could theoretically be donated to a cause someone cares about. We all make choices about what matters most to us.”
Johnson addressed the decision, saying that once she began the process her “grief didn’t disappear, but it softened.”
“It gave me something to hold onto — something to look forward to — the possibility of another chance with a part of Oliver,” she said.
She shared an important takeaway that she wanted people to get from her saga: “What I hope people take away is permission: permission to grieve fully, to honor that bond without minimizing it and to understand that love doesn’t disappear when a pet is gone — it changes form.”