A Seoul National University veterinary research team has successfully cloned three female dogs.

The team, led by professors Lee Byeong-cheon and Kim Dae-yong, created the dogs in June and July via somatic cell transfer technology, the same way Snuppy, the first cloned dog, was created.

The university says it has verified the cloning through DNA testing.

Cloned fertilized eggs were transplanted into 12 surrogate dogs from which three puppies were born. The team reached the success rate of 25 percent, far higher than the eight tenths of a percent in the case of Snuppy.

The news of the cloned dogs was reported in July but this is the first time it was published in a journal.

The results of the research were published in the online edition of the international veterinary journal Theriogenology.