Kabosu, the Shiba Inu who inspired the ‘Doge’ meme, dies at 18: owner

The internet-famous dog behind the iconic “Doge” meme has died, according to an announcement shared Friday on the dog’s official Instagram account, run by owner Atsuko Sato.

“To all of you who loved Kabosu, on the morning of May 24, Kabosu crossed the Rainbow Bridge,” read the statement, shared in Japanese and English. “Thank you all so much for your support over the years.”

Kabosu, a Shiba Inu, went viral in 2013 after a photo of the light golden-brown dog and his inscrutable facial expression was shared on Sato’s blog. Internet users quickly nicknamed Kabosu “Doge” and photos of Kabosu were shared with short sentences, often in broken English and reaction words, like “wow”, intended to illustrate what a person’s internal monologue would hypothetically say. dog.

Kabosu even inspired the launch of the DogeCoin cryptocurrency in December 2013.

According to Sato, Kabosu, who she also called Kabo-chan, was 18 years old and Sato took care of her for almost 16 years. They lived in Chiba Prefecture, southeast of Tokyo, Japan.

“She went very peacefully without suffering, as if she fell asleep feeling the warmth of my hands caressing her,” Sato wrote. “Thank you all so much for loving Kabosu all these years. I’m sure Kabosu was the happiest dog in the world. That makes me the happiest dog owner in the world.”

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has sent us a lot of love,” Sato added.