Tom Brady’s dog Lua has died just two days before Christmas, with the NFL hero paying a heartbreaking tribute to his beloved pet on Instagram.
Brady announced the news on Saturday on his social media account, sharing old pictures of his children cuddling the dog.
‘We love you Lua,’ Brady wrote, before adding in a separate post. ‘Forever in our hearts.’
Brady appears to be on a skiing vacation with his children, judging by a subsequent post on his Instagram story.
The 46-year-old Brady adopted the dog with his ex-wife, the Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
Tom Brady’s dog Lua has heartbreakingly died just two days before Christmas
![The NFL legend posted an emotional tribute to the dog on social media on Saturday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/23/19/79289595-12896959-image-m-15_1703358933232.jpg)
The NFL legend posted an emotional tribute to the dog on social media on Saturday
![Brady adopted the dog with his ex-wife, the Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/23/19/79289231-12896959-image-a-17_1703358968053.jpg)
Brady adopted the dog with his ex-wife, the Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen
![Brady is a known dog lover and has even previously volunteered at a shelter in Tampa](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/23/19/79289591-12896959-image-a-18_1703359219843.jpg)
Brady is a known dog lover and has even previously volunteered at a shelter in Tampa
It is not known if Lua stayed with Bundchen or Brady after they split towards the end of 2022.
But Bundchen posted her own tribute, with a video on her Instagram story on a post that was captioned: ‘Our little Lulu, our guardian angel is gone to heaven. She will forever live in our hearts.
‘We already miss her so much much #unconditionallove RIP Lua.’
Brady is a known dog lover – he has even volunteered at a dog shelter with his children before.
A worker at the shelter in Tampa shared a picture of him with son Ben and daughter Vivien on the day he retired this year – February 1.
‘I guess I’ll chime in with my Tom Brady story.. but it’s not the one about 7 Super Bowls or being down 28-3 or his last pass as a Patriot. We all know those,’ wrote the worker on Instagram.
‘It’s the one about the dad who volunteered at the animal shelter with his kids throughout an entire football season. The one where he bonded with his kids over naming puppies and bottle feeding kittens.
‘The one where he silently showed up every other week to make a difference for his family and his community.
‘The one where 2 dads just got to be dads and beamed with pride every time their kids said “Please can we just stay a little bit longer?!” The one where two little girls built a friendship around their love of tiny baby kittens and did their part in making the world a better place for animals.
These pictures were from August and we didn’t take many more after that. Not publicly at least. It wasn’t about publicity, fundraising or recognition. It was about being a human being.
‘It was about Tom taking the very thing his little girl loves the most and turning it into an opportunity to spend time together.’