Tanju Akbıyık 
Kabosu, the Shiba Inu who became famous as the mascot of the famous meme and Dogecoin, has died on May 24, 2022 at the age of 17. Kabosu started receiving attention in 2010 when her owner Atsuko Sato posted photos of her on blogging sites. That is how one of the images of Kabosu depicting the dog’s skeptical and curious facial expression became the starting point for the “Doge” meme.
Crypto Community Pays Tribute
The fans of cryptocurrencies and people who love Kabosu have mourned the dog, posting the messages, pictures, and videos of the dog that became the internet star. Kabosu will remain a symbol of the endless forward movement of the crypto community and the development of meme culture. Sato revealed the news on her blog, saying that she was very grateful for all of the support that has been given to Kabosu. Sato added that there is a farewell party to be held at Flowers Kaori in Kotsu no Mori, Narita City for ‘Kabo-chan’ on May 26.
From Meme to Movement
After the creation of the Dogecoin in 2013, based on the meme with the same name, the popularity of the foundational meme increased as the image of Kabosu was used as the emblem of the new crypto currency. Though it was created first as a meme, Dogecoin grew into a promising cryptocurrency that was involved in several charitable campaigns, such as water distillation projects and support for Jamaican bobsledders. Kabosu influence has gone even as far as impacting political campaigns; this is evident after Biden’s re-election campaign hired a master of memes to handle relations with digital media companies podcasts as well as several other meme pages on various social media platforms.
In December 2022, Sato came out to warn the community that Kabosu was in a ‘dangerous position’ concerning health and this received a lot of support from the crypto community. This involved Shibetoshi Nakamoto, who is also the co-founder of Dogecoin, to call for his supporters to contribute. One of the X user even agreed to pay for “any expenses that might be required to ensure that she is well taken care of.”
There is no doubt that Kabosu will continue to remain a symbol of change as well as a uniting force for the global population through the use of memes and the social media culture that she played a part in creating.