Jon Stewart isn’t just a late night show host, but he was also a very loving dog parent.
And that was evidently shown on Monday, February 26, when he paid tribute to his best boy, a brindle Pit Bull named Dipper, who passed away a day before.
The emotional tribute struck a chord in everyone and helped raised $35,000 for Animal Haven, the rescue shelter where Steward got his beloved pooch 12 years ago.
In Stewart’s tribute to Dipper, he told the story of how he met Dipper about 12 years ago while raising money for Animal Haven with his children by selling cupcakes.
Stewart recalled, while trying to fight back tears, “As a little extra incentive, they brought out this one-ish year old brindle Pit Bull, who got hit by a car in Brooklyn, and lost his right leg.”
And ffrom that day forward, Dipper became part of Stewart’s family. In tears, Stewart said, “In a world of good boys, he was the best.”
The late night show host recalled his time with Dipper while doing ‘The Daily Show’. He said, “He used to come to ‘The Daily Show’ every day. He was part of the OG ‘Daily Show’ dog crew.”
Stewart continued, “And we’d come and tape and Dipper would wait for me to be done. He met actors and authors and presidents and kings. He did what the Taliban could not do, which is put a scare into Malala Yousafzai.”
After revealing that Dipper passed away, Stewart said, “He was ready. He was tired. But I wasn’t.”
“My wish for you is one day you find that dog, that one dog… It’s just… It’s the best,” Stewart concluded.
Stewart’s tribute to his best pal ended with a video of Dipper running around in the snow and having the best time of his life.
Following Stewart’s tribute to Dipper, Animal Haven posted about Stewart and Dipper, saying many of their staff remembers the bake sale where him and Dipper first met.
“Dipper went through so much early in his life after being hit by a car and losing his leg but Jon and his family gave him a brand new life that started unwittingly on that fateful day at Animal Haven selling cupcakes with his kids,” the animal shelter wrote.
Furthermore, they revealed that they are honored to receive such support in honor and memory of the pooch.
The animal shelter wrote, “Together, animal lovers and advocates have raised over $35,000 in Dipper’s name, and we cannot thank each and every one of you enough.”
And in honor of Dipper, Animal Haven even reduced their adoption fees by $100 throughout the month of March, “in hopes that we can fulfill Jon’s wish of helping you find “that one dog.””