Family spends $155,000 to clone their dog

A family in Florida has spent $155,000 to clone their dog.

The 10-week-old golden Labrador retriever is a clone, created in South Korea by a California biotech firm from the DNA of the first Sir Lancelot, the beloved pet of Ed and Nina Otto of Boca Raton.

The original ''Lancy'' died, at age 11, in January 2008.

A celebrity from the moment he bounded off an American Airlines flight Monday night at Miami International Airport, Lancy redux ''very quickly integrated into the menagerie and held his own,'' said Lou Hawthorne, CEO of BioArts, the firm that auctioned off five dog-cloning procedures last July.

The Ottos spent $155,000 to win the second-round auction.

''He's a spunky little critter,'' Hawthorne said. ``He was nipping and stealing things.''

By Tuesday morning, Regis and Kelly and the BBC were clamoring for the inquisitive, 17-pound bundle of energy. The Ottos say he is the first single-birth, commercially cloned puppy in the United States.

Well, I guess the recession isn't effecting everyone. . .