Couple to clone beloved dog killed in hit-and-run

Dominika Sojka and Ian Clague said their dog Bijoux was a "very friendly, happy and intelligent dog"

A couple plans to spend more than $50,000 (£38,848) to clone their beloved dog after it was killed in a hit-and-run.

Bijoux, a husky crossbreed from Bournemouth in Dorset, died after she was hit by a car in June.

The 10-month-old puppy was described by owners Dominika Sojka and Ian Clague as friendly, happy and intelligent.

Ms Sojka said they were "not ready to say goodbye" to Bijoux and will now send her DNA to the United States to be cloned.

Bijoux is thought to have been hit by a car in Bournemouth

Bijoux went missing from the couple's garden on 29 June.

A local vet called the pair the next morning to break the news that she had been found dead.

Ms Sojka, 34, said: "It was very shocking for me and it took me a lot of days to even get the idea that she was gone."

In their grief, the couple researched pet cloning online and found it was sometimes carried out in the United States.

They reached out to UK-based company Gemeni Genetics, who were able to gather some DNA from Bijoux's paw.

This is now being securely stored while the couple waits to start the cloning process with US-based company ViaGen.

The company uses trained dogs which act as surrogates for the clone embryos.

Once the clones are born, they are sent to their owners at eight weeks old.

Bijoux and her sister Saphir had "bonded very well"

Mr Clague, 62, said: "We grew up with Bijoux from a tiny puppy and it [the cloning] would remove some of the pain of the loss."

Although the cloning is mostly physical, Ms Sojka said "a lot of traits are genetic".

"It's the closest you can have to feeling Bijoux again," she added.

The couple still has Bijoux's younger sister Saphir and said the animals had bonded.

"You could see that Saphir was really looking for her, every time I played a video and she heard Bijoux's name," Ms Sojka said.

She said she will be fascinated to see how Saphir reacts to the cloned version of her sister in the future.