“Ball Ball”, the dog that became a social media meme, has died.

The dog Cheems Balltze, who went viral on social media, died last Friday at the age of 12. The animal, known as “Ball Ball”, was battling cancer and could not resist a thoracocentesis operation.

“Ball Ball fell asleep on August 18,” the owner of the dog clarified. “Don’t be sad. Please remember the joy that Baltse brought to the world.”

Chims Baltze became famous on the Internet after his photos went viral and were used for “memes”. He had over 800,000 followers on Instagram.

After Ball Ball was diagnosed with cancer, the owner documented the animal’s illness by posting an update on the treatment.

“He [Cheems Balltze] will always be in my heart. I hope he can continue to bring joy to everyone in the online world, this is my only and humble request.”