Clone of Iceland’s Former First Dog Is Born

The clone of Sámur, the former First Dog of Iceland, is born, mbl.is reports. Sámur belonged to former President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson and his wife Dorrit Moussaieff. The birth of the puppy was announced by Ólafur Ragnar on Twitter last night.

Dorrit posted a picture of the puppy’s birth certificate on Twitter. It has been given the name Samson. The name appears very appropriate, for Sámsson means the son of Sámur in Icelandic. Samson was born October 25, weighing 684 g, and measuring 28 cm (11 in). The birth certificate shows Samson’s paw prints.

It was reported in October of last year that Dorrit had sent Sámur’s DNA sample to Texas, where the dog would be cloned after its death. Ólafur Ragnar stated at the time that only two companies in the world clone dogs – one in Texas and one in South Korea. Arnar Pálsson, professor of bioinformatics at the University of Iceland, told Morgunblaðið back then that cloning a dog cost around ISK 6 million (USD 48,000; EUR 43,000).

Sámur died in late January. He was a mix of a German Shepherd and an Icelandic Sheepdog. Judging from the picture, the clone looks very promising.

Related news:

Article on Iceland Monitor

Former First Dog of Iceland is dead

Article on Iceland Monitor

First Dog to become first Icelandic dog to be cloned