Atsuko Sato was photographed on March 19 playing with children at a kindergarten in Narita city, Chiba prefecture, east of Tokyo, alongside Kabosu, a Shiba Inu dog better known as the logo for the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images
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Philip Fong/AFP via Getty Images
The dog that inspired the famous “Doge” meme and cryptocurrency has died, according to its owner. He was 18 years old.
Japanese Shiba Inu teacher Atsuko Sato said in a blog post that the dog, named Kabosu, “fell into a deep sleep” on Friday morning.
Kabosu became an internet celebrity after social media users spread the now-famous photo of the rescue dog that Sato posted on her blog in 2010.
The meme creator slapped rainbow Comic Sans font over Kabosu's side-glancing, cross-pawed pose, and spoke about the pup's inner thoughts in short, choppy phrases like “amazing” and “so happy.”
Thus, the “doge” meme was born. This intentional misspelling was first introduced in 2005 by Home Star Runneran animated comedy web series.
The meme gained new fame with the 2013 launch of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
The coin was created as a joke to poke fun at cryptocurrencies, but its value skyrocketed a few years later after Elon Musk, then the richest man in the world and a Dogecoin advocate, tweeted about it.
Musk joined those mourning the death of Dogecoin's muse, Kabosu. The owner of the social media platform formerly known as Twitter posted a photo of Harambe, another deceased mammal meme, embracing the dog in heaven.
Dogecoin surged 5% after Musk's post.
The dog had recently had some health issues: In 2022, Kabosu was diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitis, an inflammatory liver disease, and chronic lymphoma leukemia, a blood cancer, Sato said.
