A South Korean firm said on Tuesday that clones of a US woman's beloved former pitbull terrier are due to be born within weeks.

The cloning of Booger, who died in 2006, came months ahead of schedule thanks to technical progress, RNL Bio said.

"Three clones of Booger have been conceived in two surrogate mother dogs," the company said in a statement, adding the pups are expected around 25 July.

The company originally charged $150 000 to clone Booger for Bernann McKinney, in what it claimed was the world's first commercial cloning.

But it agreed to come down to $50 000 as "a special discount to celebrate the first commercial deal" for the company, a RNL Bio spokesperson told AFP.

"He was my partner, my pal, my friend... we had 10 years together," McKinney told Tuesday's Korea Times, recalling her years with Booger.

Booger saved her life by chasing off a ferocious mastiff which bit her severely, she was quoted as saying. He is being re-created through some of his refrigerated ear tissue.

The cloning was conducted by a Seoul National University team led by Professor Lee Byeong-Chun. The team created the world's first cloned dog, an Afghan hound named Snuppy, on a non-commercial basis in 2005.

The feat was underestimated at the time because of the team's links to a disgraced stem cell scientist, Hwang Woo-Suk.

AFP