(Lisbon) The longevity of Bobi, who died in October in Portugal and was crowned the oldest dog of all time in 2023, raises doubts, so much so that the Guinness World Record has decided to suspend this title during an investigation, we learned on Tuesday.
During our investigation, “we have decided to temporarily suspend the record titles for the oldest living dog and the oldest dog of all time,” a spokesperson for Guinness, which lists records at the level, told AFP. world, specifying that it was a “temporary decision”.
Bobi died last October at the age of 31 years and 165 days, according to a press release published on the Guinness World Record website which distinguished him in February 2023, after having approved his exceptional longevity.
All these “suspicions are unfounded”, said Leonel Costa, the owner of Bobi in a press release sent to AFP, recalling that the approval procedure “lasted almost a year” and that he respected all the requirements demanded by Guinness.
He accuses “a certain elite in the veterinary world” of being at the origin of these suspicions, because they have difficulty accepting that Bobi has always been nourished by a “natural diet” instead of dog food, explains -he.
This rafeiro, a breed of dog that normally has a life expectancy of between 12 and 14 years on average, lived surrounded by cats in a house in Conqueiros, a small village in central Portugal.
This brown-haired pet had escaped the fate reserved for the other puppies in the litter, who had been buried at birth. He had been hidden by the family’s children, which saved his life.
Today, his age raises questions, in particular due to differences in the color of the legs appearing in photos of Bobi young and more recent photos, according to a magazine investigation.
According to the photos of this dog published in the media, “he does not seem to show the signs of a very old dog”, with “mobility problems” or even in terms of “muscle mass”, said Miguel. Figueiredo, a veterinarian at a Lisbon clinic, interviewed a year ago by AFP.