Fifteen years ago, when hair stylist Roberto Novo met a French bulldog puppy at the pet shop next to his salon, it was love at first snuggle.
“He started to lick my face, and it was like he was saying to me, ‘You’re the one!’” Novo, 62, recalled.
He named the pup Machito and they became inseparable, so much so that as the dog aged, Novo considered cloning him. When Machito was 12, he paid $1,600 to have the beloved companion’s DNA harvested and stored with the Texas-based animal cloning company ViaGen Pets.