How Much is Pet Cloning? Costs, Process and Success Rates

Former NFL quarterback Tom Brady recently announced that he had cloned his pet dog. In an interview with People Magazine earlier this month, Brady shared that his pit bull mix puppy Junie is a clone of his beloved dog Lua who died in 2023. Colossal Biosciences, a biotech company which Brady is an investor in, cloned the dog using a blood sample collected prior to her passing away.

Brady’s announcement coincided with Colossal’s statement that it is acquiring ViaGen Pets & Equine, which cloned Barbra Streisand and Paris Hilton’s pet dogs. So while this is not the first time a celebrity has cloned a beloved pet, Brady’s announcement has brought pet cloning back into the spotlight. With that in mind, we consulted a leading veterinarian and the pet cloning companies themselves to learn everything and more about pet cloning.

How Does Pet Cloning Work?

Typically, a full thickness skin biopsy of about 2 to 4 mm of the pet is taken from the inner thigh, abdomen or behind the ear under sedation or light anesthesia. According to specialists, these biopsies may be uncomfortable and take a few weeks to heal.

Then the cloning company takes an unfertilized egg from a donor female, removes its nucleus and inserts the pet’s cell nucleus. The lab uses a small electrical pulse which stimulates division and once the embryo begins developing it is implanted into a surrogate and the surrogate carries to term.

“The offspring is a genetic twin not an identical copy. Cloning recreates the genotype, the pet’s DNA blueprint, but not the phenotype or how that DNA is expressed in real life,” mentions Dr. Ezra Ameis, ER veterinarian and owner of Paw Priority. “Environment, maternal influence and random developmental factors shape personality and behavior. Think of it like identical twins raised in different homes. They may look the same but will not have the same personality. A clone might be shy where the original was bold or bond with different people altogether.”

Top Pet Cloning Companies Worldwide

There are a few cloning businesses that are leading the way in pet cloning globally. They include:

Viagen Pets & Equine

Viagen is a world leader in animal cloning. It provides cloning services for dogs, cats and horses and is now a part of the Colossal Biosciences family.

Sinogene

A Chinese biotechnology company, Sinogene offers dog, cat and horse cloning services and is well known for wildlife conservation efforts such as cloning the first wild Arctic wolf.

PETernity Genetics

This company focuses on combining advanced biotechnology with compassion to preserve the bond people share with their dogs, cats and horses. It has more than 15 years of expertise.

Ovoclone

Based in Spain, Ovoclone offers pet cloning services for dogs, cats and horses and has expanded its offerings to include camels and falcons, primarily in Arab countries.

Why Pet Owners Choose Cloning

The motivations for pet cloning are diverse. They range from deep personal attachment to financial reasoning.

“Love knows no boundaries and bonds last forever. Through science we simply help families keep that bond alive in a new way, one that honors the connection between people and their beloved animals,” says Eric Lee, chief operating officer at PETernity Genetics.

However, for owners of high value animals such as Olympic level horses, cloning is done for economic reasons.

“We specialize in cloning animals, says Enrique Criado, CEO of Ovoclone. “We started with horses, then pets and now camels and falcons, because we have entered the Arab world where these animals are very popular. Cloning can be done for sentimental reasons as in the case of pets and also for purely economic reasons as in the case of Olympic riders. Cloning with us costs around €55,000,”

Pet Cloning Cost and Medical Risks

If you want to replicate a beloved pet, the process does not come cheap. The total cost to clone a pet is currently around $50,000 to $100,000. Annual storage fees for the preserved cells are typically around $150 after the first year.

Beyond the sheer cost, the cloning process faces additional challenges. The likelihood of a surviving clone is roughly 2% to 3%, which means multiple attempts are often needed to achieve a successful pregnancy. And while the Food and Drug Administration states that cloned animals are usually healthy (i.e. cloning itself does not cause health issues), cloned animals often inherit the genetic health conditions of the original pet.

“About ten years ago, I had an owner of a dog with heart failure issues for most of its life ask me about cloning. Most of the heart issues were likely genetic,” adds Dr. Ezra Ameis. “I counselled the owner not to consider it. They were going to clone another pet only to have the new pet likely have major heart issues. It seemed quite mean. These issues could change as technology improves but they are sticky ethical problems.”

Ethical Concerns About Cloning Pets

Animal welfare organizations and veterinarians have raised concerns that cloning involves procedures that may cause pain and distress to animals involved in the process.

It is also important to understand that cloning never creates a true copy of the original animal. Pet cloning raises complex ethical questions about animal welfare, genetics and how humans process grief and loss.

“As someone who has had the same dog by my side for 11 years, I have thought about cloning. I would be interested in cloning, however this dog could be extremely different from my dog and I do not know how that would make me feel,” concludes Dr. Ameis. “I am not sure how I would react and that makes me feel strange internally. It also makes me question the idea of mortality and life. Grief and loss is an essential component of pet ownership. These are going to be major issues we will be grappling with very soon.”