Howard Stern Openly Mourns His Dog’s Death

However you feel about Howard Stern (I happen to feel he is multitalented performance artist), I think he did a great service to all dog lovers, especially men, when he shared his grief last week over the loss of his dog, an English Bulldog named Bianca Romijn-Stamos-O'Connell-Ostrosky-Stern.

Here is an excerpt of his Sirius XM radio show on Wednesday, July 18, the day after she passed away via OTC.

"I've learned I'm human because I'm so touched by my dog," said Stern, who has Bianca's name tattooed on his arm. "My dog taught me how to love – love deeper. When my kids were born, of course you realize a level of love that you never thought you'd have. But this was a very different experience in that even your kids grow up and move away from you."

"I spent the whole day crying," he said. "My daughter Ashley came over and we were crying. The two of us were just crying like babies."

"I had made a vow, I don't know, a couple of months ago, because Bianca's health was declining," the radio host said. "I said, you know, for as long as I've got my good girl with me, I'm going to, every morning, I'm going to spend 15 minutes, half hour, whatever it is, just rubbing her belly and doing what she likes to do. This is tough for me. I'm really bummed."

Howard's wife, Beth Ostrosky Stern is a passionate advocate for dog rescue and active with the North Shore Animal League Rescue.  She is also the author of the book Oh My Dog: How to Choose, Train, Groom, Nurture, Feed and Care for Your New Best Friend.

Rest in peace, Bianca.