Veteran actor Dharmendra's "wonderful part of our family" Sage, a retriever, passed away on Monday.

The news was shared by the actor's wife and actress-politician Hema Malini on Twitter.

In a series of tweets, she wrote: `Our darling retriever Sage left us this morning. Such a wonderful part of our family, so loving and loved by all. Words cannot express our deep grief."

Hema shared that the pet was very close to her family.

`He was a complete part of our lives, so handsome, playful and always prancing around us. He has gone and it tears us to know we will never see him.

`It's so tough when a pet who has been an important part of your life is suddenly not there any more. We are not able to cope easily with this loss,` she said.

She also shared a photograph of Sage along with their another pet Gipsy.