A couple from Boca Raton, Florida, have this week welcomed the first commercially cloned dog into their home – at the eye-watering cost of $155,000.

The Ottos were one of five families to bid and win a BioArts auction for a chance to clone their family dog, according to a BioArts statement.

Amazingly the couple had the foresight to store samples of Sir Lancelot’s DNA five years ago in the hope that cloning technology would one day be readily available to those willing to pay.

BioArts International will next month hold an online auction to give five wealthy pet owners the opportunity to have their dogs cloned.

The successful bidders will be able to make a genetically-identical copy of an existing pet – or create a new puppy from the frozen tissue of a long-dead pet. Bidding is expected to begin at more than $100,000.

While pet cloning may appear little more than a bizarre and morbid extravagance for the super-rich, it comes at a high price.