A grieving pet owner spent her life savings to clone her deceased dog in Thailand.

Kanjanrat Sakdigratanasiri, 50, shelled out an eye-watering 6 million Baht (137,000 GBP) for a near-perfect replica of her beloved French Bulldog, Pha Phang, whom she 'treated like her own daughter'.

The pooch had recently died of Cushing's syndrome - an overproduction of the stress hormone cortisol, which causes a host of canine health problems.

The wealthy fur mum, from Ratchaburi province in central Thailand, said she called Dr Suphasek Sonjit, a stem cell expert who claimed to be the first vet in Thailand to successfully clone a dog.

He had her harvest tissue samples from Pha Phang's body to send to controversial scientist Hwang Woo-suk in South Korea.

The biotechnology researcher, who once made revolutionary claims of having cloned human embryos, reportedly cultivated the dog cells in a lab. The complex procedure allegedly took more than a year, as the cloned puppies were unable to breathe on their own.

After five painstaking attempts, a healthy clone was finally born. The second puppy - also named Pha Phang - is a striking copy of her predecessor - save for a slightly different marking on her ear.

Kanjanrat took the four-month-old Pha Phang home, where she now lives in luxury, pampered by her own caretaker.

The overjoyed pet owner said: 'After Pha Phang turned four months old, we had the chance to meet for the first time.

'She stared at me for about a minute and immediately showed signs of recognising me. It was as if Pha Phang really had returned to life. But what surprised me the most was that she understood Thai commands, just as the doctor had explained.

'He said that cloned dogs, in addition to having the same appearance, color, and gender, could also retain memories. The only noticeable difference might be slight variations in their coat patterns.

'I understand that my decision to clone Pha Phang may seem unnatural to some. I accept differing opinions, but from a scientific perspective, cloning represents an advancement in science.

'For me, it was a way to bring back something that I had lost, without causing harm to anyone. So I want everyone to respect my decision as well.'

She added that she will bury the original Pha Phang's body, which she keeps in a refrigerator, 'when the time feels right'.

Hwang Woo-suk is a South Korean biotechnology expert who previously gained international fame for claiming to have created the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005.

However, he was later found guilty of embezzlement, ethical violations, and fraud after reportedly fabricating his findings published in high-profile scientific journals.