Barbra Streisand sat down with Variety to speak about serious stuff including her experience with sexism in Hollywood. The Funny Girl star recalls her 50 year career, one that was filled with high points like winning Best Actress, but also the lows of being snubbed years later for her directorial efforts like Yentl in 1983. It also discusses some more ridiculous stuff, like how she cloned her dog.
Yes, in the interview, 75-year-old Streisand reveals that two of her Coton de Tulear dogs are actually clones from Samantha, her 14-year-old dog who died last year. Prior to Samantha’s death, cells were taken from her stomach and mouth to produce Streisand’s new pups, Miss Scarlett and Miss Violet. “They have different personalities,” she told Variety. “I’m waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have her brown eyes and seriousness.”
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Well, Ms. Streisand, I’ve got some questions. If the puppies don’t have the same personality as the dog you’re cloning, why not just buy new puppies of the same breed? ViaGen, a Texas-based company that specializes in animal cloning actually makes this seem like an okay thing to do. Their website boasts claims like “A cloned dog is simply a genetic twin of your dog, born at a later date,” and assures you that the appearance, temperament, and intelligence will be the same. If you’re worried about your dog’s health, no worries. “Cloned dogs live full, healthy, and happy lives and are no more susceptible to health problems than any other dogs,” the company asserts. But the real question here is how much does this cost? Oh, just a mere $50,000 for puppies. For the record, Coton de Tulear puppies retail at around $2,000. You do the math.
Kristin Corry is a staff writer for Noisey. Follow her on Twitter.
