This is not a Purim fake news story. Singer Barbra Streisand took cells from her beloved dog, Samantha, a Coton de Tulear, before the sweet creature moved to doggie heaven back in 2017, and had them cloned into two girl pups, Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett, Variety reported on Tuesday.
After she received the clones, Streisand dressed them in red and lavender to be able to tell them apart – hence their names.
“They have different personalities,” the Brooklyn native Streisand, whose zaide was a cantor in Russia, told Variety, sharing that she is “waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have [her late dog Samantha’s] brown eyes and seriousness.”
Barbra has a third Coton de Tulear, a distant cousin of Samantha’s. The small Coton de Tuléar dogs are named for the city of Tulear in Madagascar and for their cotton-like coat.
The Coton de Tulear is a playful, affectionate, intelligent breed. It is usually quiet, but on occasion grunts, barks, and appears to have a lot of fun. They like jumping up and walking on their hind legs to amuse people. They usually love meeting new people and are very curious in new situations. They are easy to train because they are very eager to please (cats have nothing but disdain for this breed).
Being very involved in Jewish causes – in 1984, Streisand donated the Emanuel Streisand Building for Jewish Studies to the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University of Jerusalem – she may want to offer the cloning technology to Jewish houses of worship looking to expand their daily minyan.