Denise Richards mourns the passing of her beloved French bulldog Hank, this week.

Hank passed away on Sunday (January 21, 2013) and Denise paid tribute to her four-legged friend on Twitter and posted a picture of Hank with the message “last night we lost our beloved Hank..I will miss him dearly,13 yrs old ..been there for me thru it all Best.”

Denise is a keen animal lover and according to the Daily Mail, has a “large family of rescue cats and dogs” that she cares for along with her three daughters Sam, Lola and Eloise. Recently, Richards helped out at an animal shelter that was inundated with animals needing shelter in the wake of Hurricane Sandy’s devastation. As well as volunteering at the shelter and encouraging people to help out with donations, she also adopted a little black Labrador puppy that she named Lily. On Thursday, she tweeted “Day off tomorrow. Heading to an animal shelter, to help out. Over 600 rescued from the hurricane. My girls are coming to help too.”

Denise, who is also Charlie Sheen’s ex-wife, thanked her Twitter followers for the support that they had shown her after Hank passed away. “Thank you so much for your kind messages about Hank...it means alot to me. You guys are the best..so thoughtful & kind...xo” 

Denise Richards

Denise Richards in New York last year - the star is mourning the death of her dog