Bobi, who was crowned the world’s oldest dog has had his title taken away from him after controversy rose around his real age.
The pooch, who lived in Portugal, was said to have been 30 years and 268 days old when Guinness World Records named him the world’s oldest dog last February.
In October last year, Bobi died at the reported age of 31 years and 165 days. But last month the Records giant launched an investigation into the pup after doubts over his real age. It came despite his birth being confirmed by the Portuguese government’s pet database as well as the National Union of Veterinarians.
The animal was a purebred Rafeiro deo Alentejo, which have an average life expectancy of 12 to 14 years, and is the average considered to be across many dog breeds.
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When he was given the title, it broke a previous record held since 1939, by an Australian cattle pup who died at 29 years and five months.
Now, Guinness World Records says it has no conclusive evidence Bobi lived that long.
They said in a statement a microchip data was sourced from the official Portuguese database, which had been central to the evidence, but it turned out the chipping didn’t require proof of age for any dogs born pre-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 lived with Leonel Cosa and his family in the rural village of Conquieros.
When the investigation was launched, Mr Costa said in January he defended Bobi’s title, saying the company had spent 12 months investigating.
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