“While our assessment is ongoing we’ve determined to quickly pause each the document titles for ‘oldest canine dwelling’ and ‘oldest canine ever’ – simply till all of our findings are in place,” a spokeswoman for Guinness World Records instructed The Times.
A canine that was named the oldest canine ever has misplaced his title amid an investigation into its background.
Bobi, who lived in Portugal, was stated to have been 30 years and 268 days when he was named the world’s oldest by Guinness World Records final February.
In October 2023, he died on the reported age of 31 years and 163 days.
But doubts have now been raised over whether or not he actually was the oldest canine ever – regardless of his beginning apparently being confirmed by the Portuguese authorities’s pet database and the National Union of Veterinarians.
Bobi was a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, a breed of livestock guardian canine with a median life expectancy of 12 to 14 years.
Sceptics have requested why pictures purportedly of Bobi in his youth would present him with white paws once they have been brown in his later years, reported The Times.
Guinness World Records has stated it’s withdrawing his title till an investigation is accomplished.
“While our assessment is ongoing we’ve determined to quickly pause each the document titles for ‘oldest canine dwelling’ and ‘oldest canine ever’ – simply till all of our findings are in place,” a spokeswoman instructed The Times.
The publication stated it appeared his grand old age might have as an alternative been on account of slack fact-checking.
An investigation by Wired journal discovered Bobi had solely been registered on the Portuguese authorities’s pet database in 2022, a yr earlier than he died.
At the time, Bobi’s proprietor had declared the canine had been born in 1992, however an official for the database said it had “no registration or information that may affirm or deny this assertion”, Wired reported.
Registration of dogs born earlier than 2008 did not change into obligatory in Portugal till October 2020, so it is attainable Bobi actually was born in 1992, however his proprietor did not have the paperwork to show it, in accordance with Wired.
The title may go to Spike, a dwelling chihuahua from Ohio, who briefly held the crown last January on the age of 23 years, earlier than being usurped by Bobi.
For Spike’s preliminary verification, his proprietor Rita Kimball supplied Guinness World Records with vet data and payments that placed his date of beginning in 1999 in addition to pictures of him by the years.
However she stated she had not had him since he was a puppy and he or she discovered him in 2009 in a parking lot.
And her proof is probably not sufficient, the organisation instructed her.
Wired reported that in an e mail to Ms Kimball, a Guinness World Records consultant wrote: “We are reviewing how we confirm animal age data for the time being, so forward of reinstating Spike because the record-holder, we want to focus on the potential for you arranging for a second vet to evaluate Spike and ensure his age.
“It’s possible a lot of our document classes would require a second opinion for verification sooner or later.”
