Guinness World Record Holder for Oldest Dog Faces Fraud Controversy: "Actual Age Unknown"

World's Oldest Dog Bobby from Portugal
Guinness Book "Reevaluating Age Accuracy"
Owner Avoids Media and Disappears

Guinness World Records has announced that it will review the age record of Bobi, a Portuguese Mastiff dog that held the title of the world's oldest dog, amid allegations that the record was manipulated. The suspicion has deepened as Bobi's owner, who gained fame thanks to Bobi, has avoided interviews with the media and disappeared.

The image of Bobi, a Portuguese Mastiff who set the Guinness World Record as the world's oldest dog at 31 years and 5 months last October before passing away. [Image source=Guinness World Records]

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 16th (local time), Guinness World Records (GWR), which manages the Guinness records, announced that it will temporarily suspend Bobi's world oldest dog title record and begin a re-examination to verify its authenticity. This decision came as Portuguese local media and major foreign news outlets repeatedly raised doubts about Bobi's age, spreading rumors that the owner deliberately falsified Bobi's age.

Until now, Bobi was known to be registered in the Portuguese government's pet registration data as born in 1992, which placed Bobi at 31 years and 5 months old at the time of death, earning the world’s oldest dog title. The previous Guinness World Record holder for the oldest dog was Bluey, an Australian cattle dog who lived 29 years and died in 1939.

However, Bobi's pet registration data was found to lack any documents proving Bobi's age. According to the NYT, Bobi's age was recorded simply because the owner registered Bobi as born in 1992 at the time of data entry.

Veterinarians both inside and outside Portugal have also expressed skepticism about Bobi's age. Generally, the Portuguese Mastiff breed, to which Bobi belonged, has an average lifespan of about 13 to 14 years, and Bobi, who appeared overweight overall, was considered unlikely to live up to 31 years. Some even claimed that photos of Bobi taken before his death in October last year looked different from earlier images, further deepening the suspicion.

Amid the intensifying controversy, Leonel Costa, Bobi’s owner who gained significant fame, is reportedly avoiding contact with various media outlets and has disappeared. This has led to criticism suggesting that the owner may have intentionally falsified Bobi's age.

Meanwhile, Bobi was previously listed in the Guinness World Records as the world's oldest dog in February last year. Born and raised in the village of Conqueiros near the western coast of Portugal, Bobi attracted attention for his longevity, which was attributed to a low-salt diet at the time of the Guinness listing. Bobi’s owner claimed to feed him food cooked without seasoning the ingredients that people eat, which even sparked a trend of low-salt diets for pets.