Want to clone your dear departed canine best friend? That'll be £38,000

PARIS HILTON DID IT, AS HAS NFL STAR TOM BRADY. BUT IS THERE A CATCH TO CLONING PETS ASKS CHRIS STOKEL-WALKER

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Pablo Picasso had Lump the dachshund. Aubrey Hepburn owned Mr Famous, the Yorkshire terrier. Winston Churchill loved his poodle, Rufus. The difference between them and celebrities today?

They all had to say teary goodbyes to their precious pets. Not so for today's upper echelons.

If you've got enough money, the loss of a pet needn't be an issue any more sort of. It was announced earlier this month that former NFL quarterback Tom Brady had cloned his dog, Lua, who died in 2023, to create his new pet, Junie.

The company behind the cloning, Colossal, which disclosed its work for Brady as part of an announcement it had purchased a competitor, Viagen Pets and Equine, tells The London Standard that the technology is improving all the time. (Brady is also an investor in Colossal.) It's in vogue among celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Barbra Streisand who have chosen to clone their pets.

It doesn't come cheap - Viagen Pets charges around $50,000 (£38,000) to clone a dog or cat-sized mammal, according to one report.

But for real pet lovers, it could be considered good value. Brady said in a statement that the opportunity to use Colossal's technology "gave my family a second chance with a clone of our beloved dog".