Kabosu, Shiba inu dog who became meme and face of Dogecoin, dies aged 18 'as if falling asleep'
24 May 2024, 13:15
Kabosu, the dog who became one of the most recognisable internet memes, has died aged 18, her owner has said.
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The Shiba inu has been well known on the internet for over a decade, and even became the face of the doge coin cryptocurrency.
She had been diagnosed with leukaemia and liver disease.
Atsuko Sato, her owner, said: "To all of you who loved Kabosu, on the morning of the 24 May, Kabosu crossed the rainbow bridge. Thank you all so much for your support over the years.
"She went very peacefully without suffering, as if falling asleep while feeling the warmth of my hands petting her.
"Thank you all so much for loving Kabosu all these years.
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"I am certain Kabosu was the happiest dog in the world. That makes me the happiest owner in the world.
"I would like to express my deepest appreciation to everyone who has sent us much love to us."
Ms Sato adopted Kabosu in 2008 from a puppy shelter.
And Kabosu quickly gained wide popularity on the internet when a photo of her with a slight smile was posted to Reddit.
One user Redditor called her 'Doge', an intentional misspelling of 'dog'.
The meme gained further traction in 2013, when internet users started ironically posting the image overlaid with text captions in broken English.
On December 6 that year, the cryptocurrency Dogecoin was launched as a "fun and friendly Internet currency".
A non-fungible token (NFT) of the Doge meme was created in 2021, and sold for $4m (£3.2m).
