Former NFL star Tom Brady turned to science when saying goodbye to his late dog Lua â revealing he had the pit bull mix cloned after her death in 2023.
Tom Brady Had His Dog Cloned
Following the death of his pup, Lua, Brady turned to bioscience company Colossal to help bring her back to life.
“I love my animals. They mean the world to me and my family,” Brady told People on Tuesday, November 4. “A few years ago, I worked with Colossal and leveraged their non-invasive cloning technology through a simple blood draw of our family’s elderly dog before she passed.”
Colossal Biosciences “gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog.”
According to Viagen, the cloning process begins with genetic preservation. “Your veterinarian collects a small tissue sample through a quick, minimally invasive procedure,” their website explains. “Our scientists culture new cells containing your dogâs exact genetic makeup. These cells are carefully frozen and stored, giving you the option to clone whenever the time is right.”
Brady and ex-wife Gisele Bundchen adopted Lua during their marriage and often shared photos with their beloved family dog. Lua even appeared alongside the New England Patriots star in a 2014 Ugg Australia commercial.
Bundchen, 45, announced Lua’s death was an emotional social media post in December 2023.
“Our little Lulu, our guardian angel is gone to heaven,” she wrote at the time. “She will forever live in our hearts. We already miss her sooooo much! #unconditionallove RIPLua.”
Brady explained to People that he is “excited how Colossal and Viagen’s tech together can help both families losing their beloved pets while helping to save endangered species.”
Other Celebrities Who Have Cloned Their Pets
On Tuesday, November 4, Colossal announced it had acquired Viagen Pets, the company known for cloning other celebrity pets.
“No other company comes close to what Viagen has achieved,” Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said in a statement following the acquisition. “Their unmatched expertise and cloning technology stack have become the worldâs standard and their application of these critical and proprietary technologies to endangered species conservation makes them an invaluable partner in advancing our global de-extinction and species preservation mission.”
Barbra Streisand reportedly used Viagen to have her dog Samantha cloned twice following the pup’s 2017 death.
“I’m waiting for them to get older so I can see if they have [Samantha’s] brown eyes and seriousness,” Streisand told Variety in February 2018.
Paris Hilton also used Viagen when she cloned her dog Diamond Baby into two puppies following his 2022 disappearance.
“The two little twins that were cloned, they stay together, they walk together, they kind of huddle and lay into each other like twins,” Paris’ mother, Kathy Hilton told Us Weekly in January.
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