It’s a dog’s life: Bobi loses ‘world’s oldest dog’ title, posthumously

LISBON – The Guinness World Records has revoked the title of the “world’s oldest dog” it awarded

a now-deceased Portuguese canine named Bobi

in 2023, as it found no conclusive evidence that it had, in fact, lived for more than 31 years.

Following complaints by some veterinarians who raised doubts over Bobi’s age, Guinness in January

started a formal review

of the title issued in February 2023, when it said Bobi was about 30 years old, breaking a record held since 1939 by an Australian cattle-dog that died at 29 years and five months.

Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro Alentejano which spent its life in a village in central Portugal, died in October, supposedly at the age of 31 years and five months. Its breed, traditionally used as sheepdogs, usually has a life expectancy of 12 to 14 years.

Mr Mark McKinley, director of records at Guinness, said in a statement that microchip data sourced from the official Portuguese database had been central to evidence of Bobi’s age, but it turned out the chipping 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,” he wrote.

“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.”

Bobi’s owner, Mr Leonel Costa, did not immediately reply to a request for comment. AFP