The Guinness Book of World Records has withdrawn the record of World’s Oldest Dog, which it awarded to a Portuguese dog, Bobi.
Bobi died in October last year at a reported age of 31 years and 165 days, which made him the world’s oldest dog, and broke a record which had stood for a century.
Bobi, a Rafeiro do Alentejo, which is a Portuguese working dog, was listed on the Portuguese veterinary database as having been born in 1992. However, an investigation by a magazine, Wired, could find that there was nothing to verify that he had actually been born in that year.
There have also been questions over older photographs of the animal, with some claiming it is not the same dog, as markings on the fur are different.
Danny Chambers, a member of the British Royal Society of Veterinary Surgeons, was quoted as saying: ‘Not a single one of my veterinary colleagues believe Bobi was actually 31 years old.’
Guinness World Records have for the time being suspended Bobi’s title. The organisation was quoted as saying: ‘While our review is ongoing, we have decided to temporarily pause applications on both the record titles for oldest dog living and (oldest dog) ever until all of our findings are in place and have been communicated.’
Bobi’s owner, Leonel Costa, said that he believed that there was a vendetta against him, as he said that Bobi’s long life was due to being fed food primarily eaten by humans, rather than food specifically for dogs, something most veterinarians would caution against.
Costa said: ‘Everything would be different if we had said he ate pet food for three decades.’
The record for the world’s oldest dog was previously for an Australian animal, Bluey, who died at the age of 29 in 1939.
Image by Randy Rodriguez from Pixabay