Cheems the dog, who was the star of a popular meme, passed away: he did not survive surgery

At the age of 12, the star of memes, the dog Cheems (real name: Balltze), passed away in Hong Kong. He became popular about 5 years ago when Internet users created a funny picture of two Shiba Inu dogs.

The dog was nicknamed Cheems by social media users, while his owners affectionately called him "the ball." The pet's death was reported on Instagram (scroll to the bottom of the page to see the photo).

Balltze was fighting leukaemia. During his treatment, the dog had to undergo surgery and thoracentesis, which involves removing fluid from the pleural cavity.

"Don't be sad, please remember the joy Balltze brought to the world. A Shiba Inu with a round smiling face that connects us to you. He helped many people during the pandemic and brought a lot of joy to many of you, but now his mission is complete. I believe he is running around in heaven and eating lots of delicious food with his new friends. He will always be in my heart. I hope he can continue to bring joy to everyone in the online world. This is my only humble request," the post reads.

Almost 700 thousand users followed the blog of the funny furry animal. He was a favourite of many people who like the cute Shiba Inu breed and memes.

People first learned about Cheems in 2017, when the owners took a legendary picture of their four-legged friend. Users found his facial expression so funny and his appearance so weak that Cheems was used to compare two people, things, or events where his image showed weakness.

Active users of social media could see his photo alongside the image of another dog of the same breed, Dodge. In the context of the meme, he was Balltze's stronger rival.

OBOZREVATEL decided to recall the most memorable jokes involving dogs:

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote that Krym, the dog who touched the whole of Ukraine when he mourned his family on the ruins of a house in Dnipro destroyed by a Russian missile, died. As a result of the enemy attack, the dog lost his eyesight, hearing and sustained concussion.

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