Pet parents definitely empathize with the grief Tom Brady experienced when losing his dog, but many of them don’t agree with his decision to clone his beloved pet. The former NFL player recently revealed that his dog Junie is actually a clone of his dog Lua, who died in December 2023. In a statement, 48-year-old Tom said Colossal Biosciences cloned his dog using a blood sample collected before her death. And while losing a pet is extremely hard, a lot of people are really not sure how they feel about this decision. Some firmly believe it’s “weird” and “wrong.”
Tom explained how the biotech company helped his family.
In the statement shared by People, Tom thanked Colossal (a company he’s an investor in) for helping his family after they lost their pet. “I love my animals. They mean the world to me and my family,” he said. “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.”
Tom promoted the use of this technology, saying the biotech company “gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog.” He seems to hope that more people will use this technology in the future. As Colossal acquired Viagen Pets and Equine, Tom added that he’s “excited how Colossal and Viagen’s tech together can help both families losing their beloved pets while helping to save endangered species.”
Lua was clearly an important member of his family.
Tom adopted the pup when he was still with his ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen. In 2023, Gisele shared several photos of the beloved pet on Instagram, captioning her post with, “Our little Lulu, our guardian angel is gone to heaven. She will forever live in our hearts. We already miss her sooooo much! #unconditionallove RIPLua 💔” After news of Lua’s clone broke, people started commenting on the post again even though it’s nearly two years old. “Very creepy Tom cloned her 😮😢,” one person commented on Gisele’s post. Another critic of the cloning decision added, “So weird. It’s not the same dog and you could have saved another shelter dog.”
Many others agreed that it seemed ‘weird.’
Some of the people who criticized Tom for cloning his dog tried to understand the decision. “I can see the appeal to wanting to clone a beloved pet, but I personally question whether this is a mentally healthy thing to do (or even ethical, given how many dogs are looking for a home),” one person wrote on Reddit. A second person added, “That kinda thing always creeped me out I just lost my beloved cat of 13 years, but even if I had the money to clone her I would never do it. She lived her life, and making some reconstruction of her would feel horribly wrong.”
Although it seemed incredibly “disturbing” to many, some people said they would consider doing the same if they could afford to do so. At the same time, others slammed “rich people” for cloning pets instead of adopting. “I mean, definitely don’t rescue or an adopt another dog in need. That would be too reasonable and kind. Rich people are gross af,” someone wrote.
Another person added, “I sympathize with missing a pet that is gone, and I’d give anything to see my boy again. The fact is, when I get another pet, it will be through adoption. Too many animals exist without someone to love them for me to just CLONE a dog. Every animal deserves love. Go to your local shelter and make an animal happy!”
