Bobi was a Portuguese mastiff who lived in a town called Conqueiros, south of Coimbra (Portugal). He regularly appeared in the news as the oldest dog in the world: he lived to be 31 years old. He died last October and left in his name a Guinness record delivered nine months earlier that recognized him not only as the oldest animal of his species in the world at the time, but in all historical records. However, after weeks of turning into a controversy that began with a American magazine article Wired that questioned his agethe organization has finally decided to withdraw Bobi's award due to “lack of evidence.”
A dog's life expectancy varies depending on size and breed. According to the magazine National Geographic, those that usually reach 16 years of age or older are the smallest, like Chihuahuas—in fact, the dog that holds the world record after Bobi's death is a 23-year-old Chihuahua. A medium-sized Portuguese Mastiff has a life expectancy of about 12 years.
The author of the article Wired, Matt Reynolds, questioned the methodology used by Guinness World Records to verify Bobi's age. As he found out, the only official source was the Companion Animal Information System (SIAC), a Portuguese Government database in which the birth of the animal was recorded in 1992. However, this system was not put into operation. until 2008. The only proof of Bobi's age, they told Wired from SIAC, was the statement of its owner, Leonel Costa. Danny Chambers, member of the board of governors of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons of the United Kingdom, said to Guardian that “not a single one” of his colleagues believed that Bobi was really 31 years old.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Leonel Costa defended his story. He said that he found Bobi in 1992 when he was a puppy and that he has photographs to prove it. In addition, he pointed out that those in charge of Guinness World Records spent a year verifying the dog's age.
In October, when Bobi had received the recognition, Costa said that the keys to his longevity were “good nutrition, constant contact with nature, freedom to discover his environment, consistent veterinary care and love.” By “good nutrition,” Costa meant that Bobi did not eat pet food, but rather human food. It is this last point that has sparked debate in the veterinary world.
When consulted on this topic, Víctor Fernández Fraile, president of the Madrid Association of Pet Veterinarians, explains that dog food is formulated taking into account the proportion of nutrients necessary for each type of animal depending on “their age, activity level and pathology.” Feeding them human food without knowledge of animal nutrition, according to Fernández, can be harmful.
For its part, the scientific committee of nutrition of the Association of Spanish Veterinarians Specialists in Small Animals (Avepa) remembers that, “before the first feeds appeared, dogs were fed 'leftovers', and even though it was 'human food' there were many nutritional deficiencies and toxicities.”
Journalist Imogen West-Knights, who has covered Guinness World Records for years, said in a column that she was “moved” by the “silly dignity” of this controversy: “None of this matters. Yet here we are, in a world where a formal review of a 31-year-old dog's case is underway. “No one (except the dog in question) will be affected by the outcome of an investigation like this.”
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