Barbra Streisand clones beloved dog to create new pups

Barbra Streisand holds a dog in her arms.

Barbra Streisand asked in The Way We Were: "If we had the chance to do it all again, tell me would we, could we?"

When it comes to getting a new pet, she no longer has to wonder.

The Funny Girl singer and actress had her beloved 14-year-old coton de tulear dog Samantha cloned after its death last year, and now has two new pups.

Streisand told Variety in an interview that cells taken from Samantha's mouth and stomach were used in the cloning process.

"They [the clones] have different personalities," Streisand said.

"I'm waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have her brown eyes and her seriousness."

A close-up image of Barbra Streisand's face as she smiles.

Streisand said when the cloned dogs arrived, she dressed them in red and lavender to tell them apart, which is how they got their names — Miss Scarlett and Miss Violet.

The news has prompted some backlash.

Animal rights group PETA tweeted that she should have adopted a dog from a shelter instead.

External Link: Peta post: Cloning creates a new & different dog

"Animals' personalities, quirks, and 'essence' simply cannot be replicated, and considering that millions of wonderful adoptable dogs are languishing in shelters every year or dying in terrifying ways when abandoned, you realise that cloning adds to the animal population crisis," it wrote.

"Because cloning has a high failure rate, many dogs are caged and tormented for every birth that actually occurs so that's not fair to them, despite the best intentions.

"We feel Barbra Streisand's grief at losing her beloved dog but would also love to have talked her out of cloning."

A fluffy, white dog looks at the camera.

The Oscar and Tony-winning actress, 75, also told Variety that while waiting for the pups' arrival, she became smitten with another dog who was a distant relation of Samantha.

The dog was called Funny Girl, but Streisand adopted her and gave her the name Miss Fanny, which is how Fanny Brice's dresser refers to Streisand's character in the 1968 movie musical that launched her career.

Streisand followed up Funny Girl, for which she won an Oscar, with Hello Dolly! but told Variety she had never much liked the movie.

"I thought I was totally miscast. I tried to get out of it," she said.

"I think it's so silly. It's so old-time musical."