For this reason, Guinness World Records has stripped Bobi of the title of “Oldest Dog in the World.”

A The purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo named Bobi was crowned the world’s oldest dog in the Guinness Book of Records in October 2023 when he died at the age of 31 years and 165 days. Before Bobi’s death, the oldest known dog was an Australian hunting dog named Bluey, who died in 1939 at the age of 29.

The life expectancy of a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo is around 12 to 14 years.

However, some experts have now expressed doubts about Bobi’s age. “None of my veterinary colleagues believe that Bobi was actually 31 years old,” said Danny Chambers, a veterinarian and council member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons The guard.

An investigation by Wired said in December that Bobi was only officially registered in the Portuguese government’s database of cats, dogs and other pets in July 2022. The dog’s owner, Leonel Costa, registered the dog as born in 1992, but there was no proof other than the owner’s word. According to Portuguese law, dogs born before 2008 are not required to register until October 2020.

Additionally, many veterinarians noted in the pictures that Bobi also appeared to be overweight, making it even less likely that Bobi could be that old.

“Even in humans, it doesn’t really happen that people who are overweight can survive that long,” said Enikő Kubinyi, an expert on dog longevity at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary Wired.

Due to the doubts, the Guinness Book of Records has announced that it is investigating the case and has since suspended the title.

“While our review is ongoing, we have decided to temporarily suspend the two record titles for oldest living dog and at all until all of our results are received,” Guinness World Records told The Associated Press by email on Tuesday.

Costa, Bobi’s owner, defended his dog’s title and said the veterinary world was conspiring against him for feeding his pet human food instead of dog food. “An elite in the veterinary world … has tried to give people the impression that Bobi’s life story is not true,” Costa said in a statement on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Costa said in an email to the Associated Press that Guinness World Records spent a year verifying Bobi’s age and that he made no money from the title.

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