World

Kabosu, famous dog behind Doge meme, has died

Published on

May 24, 2024

Kabosu, the Japanese dog who inspired the Doge meme and influenced internet culture for more than a decade, died Friday after a long illness, according to her owner. She was 18 years old.

Atsuko Sato said Kabosu passed away at 7:50 a.m. on Friday when she fell into a “deep sleep” and “crossed the rainbow bridge” at her home. “Kabosu is at rest now,” she wrote in a message she shared online.

“Through the window, the soft light was shining in. Outside the window, birds were singing on a beautiful morning,” Sato wrote in Japanese. “As I caressed her, as if she was falling asleep, she passed away quietly.”

“Thank you all so much for loving Kabosu all these years. I’m certain that Kabosu was the happiest dog in the world. That makes me the happiest owner in the world,” she added.

“Kabosu is still smiling and laughing, smiling and wagging her tail, snuggling up to me. I’m sure she still is. I’m sure she’ll be with me for a long time to come,” Sato said. She added that a farewell party will be held near Tokyo on Sunday afternoon.

Kabosu was a female Shiba Inu dog who was adopted by Sato, a kindergarten teacher, in 2008. Photos of the dog went viral after they were shared on Reddit in 2013, kicking off a popular meme called Doge in which a photo is overlaid with inner monologue in broken English.

A picture of Kabosu is also used as the logo for the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. And in April 2023, Elon Musk briefly changed the Twitter/X logo to an image of Kabosu, causing the price of the cryptocurrency to surge.

Kabosu was in poor health in recent years. Her owner announced in December 2022 that Kabosu was diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitis and chronic lymphoma leukemia after she stopped eating and drinking. Her condition later improved.