Kabosu, the shiba inu dog who went viral as the “doge” meme, has died, her owner said on Friday.
Owner Atsuko Sato, 62, confirmed the news on her social media on Friday. Kabosu had been suffering from leukaemia and liver disease since 2022 and died on 24 May.
“She quietly passed away as if asleep while I caressed her,” Atsuko Sato wrote.
“I think Kabo-chan was the happiest dog in the world. And I was the happiest owner.
“Thank you all so much for loving Kabosu all these years. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to everyone who has sent us much love.”Ms Sato, who is a teacher from Sakura, east of Tokyo, adopted Kabosu from a shelter in 2008 after the puppy mill she was born in shut down. Since Kabosu was a rescue, Ms Sato doesn’t know exactly when she was born, but she estimates Kabosu was around 18 years old.The image was usually accompanied with funny, broken English in comic sans font as if to emulate Kabosu’s inner monologue.
The photo then went on to inspire a cryptocurrency called Dogecoin, started as a joke by software engineers, which now has a market capitalisation of $23 billion, and is often mentioned on X by tech mogul Elon Musk.
