Tom Brady clones family pet who died in 2023

Des Bieler

Tom Brady revealed Tuesday that a young dog of his is actually a clone created from a family pet who died almost two years ago.

In a statement shared by Colossal Biosciences, a company that says it specializes in “species restoration,” Brady thanked it for giving him and his family “a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog.” Brady is an investor in the company.

The original dog, Lua, died in December 2023, according to Brady’s ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen. On Tuesday, Brady said he “worked with Colossal and leveraged their noninvasive cloning technology through a simple blood draw of our family’s elderly dog before she passed.” He credited the company with taking just “a few short months” to provide him with the clone, reportedly named Junie.

Brady’s comments emerged in conjunction with Colossal’s announcement Tuesday that it had acquired Viagen Pets and Equine, said to be “the global leader and expert in animal cloning.” Viagen previously helped celebrities such as Barbra Streisand and Paris Hilton obtain clones of their pet dogs. Hilton, also an investor in Colossal, had two clones and Streisand got three, one of which went to the daughter of a friend.

Viagen says it charges $50,000 to clone a cat or a dog and $85,000 for a duplicate horse. The company also touts its “key role in preserving and reviving the genetics” of exotic, and in some cases endangered, species such as white and black rhinos, the Florida bonneted bat and the Grévy’s zebra.

Colossal’s “de-extinction” efforts have included, per the company, bringing forth the first dire wolves in approximately 10,000 years.

Brady said in his statement Tuesday that he was “excited” at the prospect that the two companies, now under the same umbrella, could “help both families losing their beloved pets while helping to save endangered species.”

Critics of pet cloning contend the process can entail cruelty to multiple animals that might be created and discarded along the way to producing a dead ringer of the original. Some say those looking to clone a pet could instead rescue an existing dog or cat from a shelter.

“PETA empathizes with Tom Brady and anyone grieving the loss of a beloved companion animal, but the best way to honor them is to recognize that they aren’t replaceable and adopt,” a spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Tuesday in a statement shared via email.

“Definitely don’t clone,” the spokesperson said, “as not only won’t the engineered new dog inherit the original’s temperament or lovable quirks, but cloning’s high failure rate means that many dogs are caged and tormented for every birth that actually occurs. And what a losing game for all the wonderful, deserving dogs in shelters who lost their chance at a home.”

Photos of Lua, reportedly a pit bull mix, dotted the social media feeds of Brady and Bündchen, who divorced in 2022. When the dog died the following year, Bündchen wrote in a post, “She will forever live in our hearts.”

“I love my animals,” Brady said Tuesday. “They mean the world to me and my family.”