Much sad: Kabosu, the real-life Shiba Inu that was the basis for the popular “doge” internet meme — and became the face on the logo of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency — has died. She was 18.
“On the morning of the 24th of May, Kabosu crossed the rainbow bridge. Thank you all so much for your support over the years,” her owner, Atsuko Sato, said in a post on Instagram. “She went very peacefully without suffering, as if falling asleep while feeling the warmth of my hands petting her.” Kabosu’s death was confirmed via email by the New York Times.
According to Know Your Meme site, the Doge meme featured the Shiba Inu in photos that “may be photoshopped to change the dog’s face or captioned with interior monologues in Comic Sans font. The primary meme and iconography associated with Doge was the Shiba Inu named Kabosu, whose photos taken by her owner Atsuko Sato in early 2010 went viral across the internet.” Per the site, the use of the misspelled word “doge” to refer to a dog dates to June 24, 2005, when it was mentioned in an episode of Homestar Runner’s puppet show.
Fans of the doge meme and Dogecoin included multibillionaire Elon Musk — who temporarily changed the logo of X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, to the Dogecoin icon. The Dogecoin blockchain and cryptocurrency was created as a joke in 2013 to mock other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
On Friday, Musk posted a meme showing Kabosu being embraced by an angel-winged Harambe (the late gorilla at the Cincinnati zoo who also became an internet meme). “OG Doge has ascended to heaven to be with [her] friend Harambe,” Musk wrote.
The official X account of Dogecoin commemorated the world-famous Shiba Inu’s death in a post Friday. “Today Kabosu, our community’s shared friend and inspiration, peacefully passed in the arms of her person. The impact this one dog has made across the world is immeasurable. She was a being who knew only happiness and limitless love,” it said.
Source Agencies
