Russell Brand is mourning the loss of his beloved pooch Carly

Alongside a sweet picture of Carly watching Russell swim in a lake, he

shared: "Today our dog Carly died. We inherited her from her first owners (who had died) via a mate. She was a lovely dog, all full of spirit and joy and bounce (and farts and night-barking) me and Laura will miss her but carry the love we felt amidst this passing pain.

Thanks for her lovely life Unknowable, Unquenchable Cosmic Force that makes all possible."

Russell is an animal rights activist and lives with Laura, 35, and their children Mabel, five, and Peggy, four, in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, and their home is an animal sanctuary.

His spouse spilled in 2021: "We've got two dogs, eight cats and five chickens. One of our cats had six kittens - but they're not tiny any more. They're all over the place. But we're mad and fell in love with all of them."

Russell's love for animals is well known; he has been a vegetarian since he was 14 and changed to a completely vegan diet in 2011 for two years.

After reverting to vegetarianism for a number of years, he revealed in

2019 that he had once again decided to embrace a vegan diet.

He previously said: "I was nagged into veganism by society... I was vegetarian from when I was a little kid, 14, because of The Smiths and because of like 'oh, they do what in factory farms?'.

"You know, like, it was too brutal. And then my mate Simon Amstell, he's a very good comedian, made a film called 'Carnage' which sort of talked about like in 50 years people will look back and go 'f****** hell they ate animals.'"