Kapuso, the dog behind the “dog” internet meme, has died.

The Kapuso Shiba Inu dog whose curious expression appeared in a host of Internet memes has died, his owner said Friday.

A photo of Kapuso with a slight sideways glance went viral around 2013 on Tumblr and various online chat rooms, before becoming known as the “doge,” and is one of the most popular and iconic images of the social web era.

The dog’s owner, Atsuko Sato, 62, a kindergarten teacher from Sakura City in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, confirmed the news in her post. A poignant poem on her blog on Friday.

“At 7:50 a.m., I fell into a deep sleep,” she wrote. Sato said she will hold a farewell party for Kabu-chan on Sunday.

“She died quietly, as if she was asleep while I was caressing her,” Sato wrote, according to an AFP translation. “I think Kabu-chan was the happiest dog in the world. And I was the happiest owner.”

Kapuso’s face has appeared in countless social posts, and he even became the face of cryptocurrency. A non-fungible token, or NFT, of the image was sold in 2021 for $4 million.

Dogecoin praised the dog on

The photo was shared online, often accompanied by colorful captions in a comical font expressing faux amazement, usually including “wow”, “amazing” and broken English such as “so frost, so much cold”, intended to be seen as the photo Interior for the dog. Solo monologue.

People adapt the meme to comment on world events, pop culture news, and even to attack political rivals.

In 2014, the Public Transport Authority of Stockholm, Sweden, Launched an advertising campaign Using the Dougie meme, with captions such as “such cheap”, “so much summer” and “awesome”.

Sakura is very proud of its famous dog mascot whose image of the dog was used Sewer cover There was a bronze statue of Kapuso It was revealed earlier this yearpaid for by donations from fans around the world.

Sato told a Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun In February, Kapuso was a rescue dog and at one point was on the verge of collapsing. Kapuso’s exact age is unclear, but Sato said in February that she was 18.

“Since Kapuso came to my home, a series of miraculous things have happened, enriching my life and giving me a treasure trove of priceless moments,” Sato told the newspaper.

The famous photo of Kapuso was taken in 2010 and uploaded to Sato’s blog, Where it is still online.

Sato said to Know your meme’s location In 2020 there was nothing unusual in the photo.

“I take a lot of photos every day, so this day was nothing out of the ordinary. Kapuso loves having her photos taken, so she was happy to point the camera at her,” she told the site.

She remained baffled by the internet fame her pet had attracted. “I didn’t know anything, and I still don’t really understand,” she said.

Kapuso was diagnosed with leukemia and liver disease in 2020. Sato told AFP in A The last interview That the “invisible power” of Internet fan prayers helped her succeed.