Over the weekend, one of the most famous animal celebrities of the internet reportedly passed away.
The news was brought to the net by the “official Twitter account of China Central Television.”
RIP, Doge! Shiba Inu who inspired popular Internet memes died in Japan aged 16 pic.twitter.com/OO1OrpxULy
— CCTV (@CCTV) March 31, 2017
What?
Kabosu, the legendary pup behind one of the internet’s greatest memes, dead?
Wow.
Much Sad.
R.I.P. Doge.
Shiba I-NOOO.
But thankfully, for everyone, this appears to be a poorly executed hoax or an April Fools’ joke.
Here’s doge, alive and well and doge as ever.
Hooray. Much good news. Great treat. Happy doge.
Naturally, people were not happy about this effort.
This shit ain’t funny pic.twitter.com/69ALPBj1wP
— link (@kaventurines) April 1, 2017
That said, doge the meme did die three-and-a-half years ago, when a congressman used it to make a funny.