London (CNN) — Kabosu, the pet that starred in thousands of “doge” memes, died, as announced by its owner this Friday.
The Japanese shiba inu dog “fell into a deep sleep” this Friday morning at age 18, Atsuko Sato wrote in a blog post.
“Outside the window, birds were singing on a beautiful morning. As I caressed her, she passed away gently,” wrote Sato, a teacher in the Japanese city of Sakura. “I think she was the happiest dog in the world.”
The late Kabosu photographed with her owner Atsuko Sato in Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, in March 2024. (Photo: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images).
Kabosu became one of the most famous animals on the internet in 2010, when a photo of him posing with his paws together and a questioning expression spread on forums such as Reddit.
This caused the proliferation of “doge” memes, based on an intentional misspelling of the word “dog”, in which Internet users photoshopped Kabosu’s face on cakes, landmarks and other animals.
The popularity of “doge” memes was cemented in December 2013, when Kabosu became the face of the alternative cryptocurrency Dogecoin, a tongue-in-cheek response to Bitcoin that reflected the internet’s love for animal memes. Other memes followed, such as a shiba inu coin.
Dogecoin counts Elon Musk among its fans. In May 2021, he asked his millions of Twitter followers if Tesla should accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
A month earlier, when cryptocurrencies were experiencing a surge in popularity, demand for Dogecoin skyrocketed so much that it briefly broke the cryptocurrency trading system of Robinhood, a stock trading and investment platform.
A post on Dogecoin’s X social network this Friday called Kabosu the “inspiration” of the community. “The impact this dog has had on the entire world is immeasurable,” the post said.
Sato said in a series of Instagram posts in 2022 that Kabosu suffered from leukemia and liver disease. He plans to hold a “farewell meeting” on Sunday.
Mai Nishiyama contributed to this report.
