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Bobi Stripped Of World’s Oldest Dog’ Title By Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records has pulled back the “world’s oldest dog” title from Bobi, whose age was claimed to be 31 when he died in October.
Guinness launched an investigation after the dog’s age was called into question. The organization determined that it “no longer has the evidence it needs to support Bobi’s claim as the record holder.”
The dog, who spent his whole life with owner Leonel Costa and his family in the Portuguese village of Conqueiros, was recognized by Guinness as the world’s oldest dog living and the oldest dog ever. He was a Rafeiro do Alentejo, which is a breed of livestock guardian dog with an average life expectancy of 12 to 14 years. The dog broke an almost century-old record; the previous oldest dog ever, Bluey (1910-1939), was an Australian cattle-dog who lived to be 29 years, 5 months.
Mark McKinley, director of Records at Guinness, who conducted the review, said:
We take tremendous pride in ensuring as best we can the accuracy and integrity of all our record titles. Following concerns raised by vets and other experts, both privately as well as within public commentary, and the findings of investigations conducted by some media outlets, we felt it important to open a review into Bobi’s record.
We of course require evidence for all Guinness World Records titles we monitor, often a minimum of two statements from witnesses and subject experts alongside pictures, video and where appropriate we will also assess data provided by technology relevant to the achievement. This might be GPS data for a journey record, timing-gate data for a speed record, or where available; microchip data to prove the age of a pet.”
Central to Bobi’s evidence was microchip data sourced from the Portuguese government database, the SIAC, which it transpires, when chipped in 2022, did not require proof of age for dogs born before 2008. With the additional veterinary statement provided as evidence for Bobi’s age also citing this microchip data, we’re left with no conclusive evidence which can definitively prove Bobi’s date of birth.
Without any conclusive evidence available to us right now, we simply can’t retain Bobi as the record holder and honestly claim to maintain the high standards we set ourselves.
No new record holder has been named.
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