Chelsea Handler mourns dog Chunk's death: 'He was the love of my life'

Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Chelsea Handler is mourning the death of her beloved dog Chunk.

The 42-year-old television personality and comedian dedicated sweet posts to her pet Thursday after announcing his death.

"This guy passed away today and he was the love of my life," she tweeted. "I was one of those people who would tell people that pets aren't more than people, but some of them are better than some people, and chunk was a true gentleman. And a Democrat. I love you, buddy. I always will."

Handler also shared the news and photos of Chunk on Instagram.

"I don't know who did my hair this day (probably me) but I know that this pic of chunk epitomizes how deeply dignified he was. We were a couple," she captioned a picture with her dog. "Thank you for your outpouring of affection."

Handler said in another post that her favorite memory of Chunk took place on the Hudson River in New York.

"My favorite memory of Chunk is when I was paddle boarding on the Hudson River in upstate NY and he was following me on the shoreline by the trees, and finally jumped in and swam a quarter of a mile to get on my paddle board with me," she shared. "I cried that day at how much he loved me. And, today I'm crying because of how much I loved him."

Handler often shared photos of Chunk with her 3.3 million Instagram followers, and also set up Twitter and Facebook accounts for the dog. He appeared with the star on the cover of her book Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang.