Jon Stewart in tears as he shares sad news with Daily Show viewers

The Daily Show host struggled to speak at times

The political commentator returned to the popular Comedy Central programme this month, after nine years away from the show.

But on Monday's edition of the Daily Show, the host was in tears as he informed viewers that his beloved dog Dipper had sadly passed away.

With his voice breaking, Stewart said: "In a world of good boys, he was the best."

Having to pause on several occasions to compose himself, the 61-year-old told viewers how his family had met Dipper.

You can watch the emotional monologue below.

He explained that his children were selling cupcakes outside a local animal shelter about 10 years ago to raise money for the facility, when staff introduced the family to Dipper.

The American comic started to choke up as he described the dog as a “one-ish year old brindle pitbull.”

Hitting the table with his fist and swearing, he grabbed a box of tissues from under his desk, before revealing the devastating news that Dipper had been "hit by a car in Brooklyn, and lost his right leg”.

Pausing again as he fought back tears, he joked: "I thought I'd get further."

He continued: "They put the dog in my lap, we left that day feeling really good that we’d helped this great organisation and we also left with this one-ish year old brindle pitbull. We called him Dipper. In a world of good boys, he was the best."

Stewart recalled how Dipper would come to the Daily Show "every day" and meet some of the famous guests.

“He met actors and authors and presidents and kings. And he did what the Taliban could not do, which is, put a scare into Malala Yousafzai," the host said.

Reacting to the emotional speech on social media, one person wrote: "I have tears streaming down my face, as I’m sure all of us dog lovers do."

Another said: "Pet loss is no different than the loss of a close family member - because they are family. I’m not sure if Jon reads comments but the millions of dog people know what he is going through and it sucks. A beautiful thing is that every dog is that good dog."

A third commented: "I'm so sorry you are going through this."

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