World's Oldest Dog Stripped Of Title After Scandal
The words "controversy" and "world's oldest dog" don't typically belong in the same sentence but there's something of a scandal embroiling the late pooch who held the Guinness World Record as the oldest dog on record.
Bobi was a Rafeiro do Alentejo who hailed from Conqueiros, Portugal. Sadly, Bobi passed away last October at a reported age of — ready for this one — 31 years and 165 days. That kind of longevity allowed Bobi to smash a record previously set by Bluey, an Australian Dog who died in 1939 at the age of 29.
However, there has been some controversy about how Bobi's actual age was determined.
Bobi, a Portuguese dog who once held the title of World's Oldest Dog. has had that title posthumously stripped. (Photo by Luis Boza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
According to BBC News, Bobi's age was initially proven by a microchip. However, now, the folks at Guinness — who on top of brewing a hell of a beer, are pretty thorough about who they award these ultimately meaningless records to — have decided that the microchip won't cut the age-proving mustard.
"We're left with no conclusive evidence which can definitively prove Bobi's date of birth," the Guinness people said. "Without any conclusive evidence available to us right now, we simply can't retain Bobi as the record holder."
Aw man, that poor pup's good name is being dragged through the mud and he's not here to defend himself.
His owner, Leonel Costa, hasn't offered any comments since the Guinness people yoinked their world record plaques, but in the past, he had called previous claims that Bobi wasn't as old as he alleged "unfounded."
In truth, there were a lot of doubts that Bobi was that old. Danny Chambers, a vet and council member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, told The Guardian that not a single one of my veterinary colleagues believe Bobi was actually 31 years old".