BRUSSELS, February 20, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Monday, every Member of the European Parliament received, from the European Youth Alliance, a card that mourned the February 1st death of Matilda, Australia’s first cloned sheep. The card, bearing all the traditional symbols of a Rest In Peace sympathy card – including a photo of the recently deceased, warned the politicians against all forms of human cloning. The card read: “We regret to announce the death of Matilda, Australia’s first cloned sheep. Matilda passed away suddenly without previous signs of illness, leaving behind puzzled scientific researchers.”
The card also pointed out the concerning fact that “Its decomposing carcass was cremated before any tests were made to establish the cause of death.” Noting further that “Dolly, Scotland’s cloned sheep, died recently, due to a lung disease. She also suffered from premature ageing after it took 277 embryos and 30 simultaneous embryo implants in different sheep to clone her.” The European Youth Alliance, a branch of the over one million strong World Youth Alliance said “We lament their deaths and the setback of the Science of the Lambs.” And included the warning “Please note that the same cloning technique is used for animals and humans, in reproductive and so-called therapeutic cloning.” See the World Youth Alliance website at www.wya.net