Organisation concludes ‘microchip not sufficient proof of great age’
Bobi the wonder dog, the hero of Conqueiros, the ‘oldest dog ever recorded in the world’, has been posthumously stripped of his Guinness World Records title after critics came forwards with inconvenient photographs, saying there is no way a dog could have lived the 31 years claimed by Bobi’s owners.
Having only last year issued Bobi with his legendary certificate, the organisation has since concluded – or certainly been led to conclude – that “the microchip claimed to prove Bobi’s age was not sufficient proof to grant him the title”.
Bobi’s owners have already suggested much of this has to do with sour grapes from sources within the animal feed industry. Bobi’s longevity, in their eyes, was entirely due to the fact that he ONLY ever ate food cooked for humans.
But whatever the truth, Bobi clearly had a wonderful life (was fitted with a microchip that dated back 30 years when he was awarded the title) – and is now dead.
Whether he is remembered on earth as the oldest dog in the world, or just ‘dear Bobi who brought visitors flocking from far and wide’, he won’t be worrying about any of it.
For now, according to the BBC, Bobi’s owners have not commented on what many may see as a kind of disgrace.
The previous world title holder for ‘oldest dog in the world’ was an Australian cattle dog called Bluey – who died in 1939 at the age of 29 years and five months (so clearly dogs CAN live almost 30 years).
One of the major non-sequiturs in this case has always been that Bobi was constantly described as a Rafeiro Alentejano, which is a breed of cattle dog that typically lives 12-14 years.
He was not a Rafeiro Alentejano. Bobi was a mutt (which in Portuguese can also be described as a rafeiro, with a small ‘r’) and he lived in the Alentejo.
This could be where all the confusion began: ‘vets from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ have been cited for not believing a Rafeiro Alentejano could live for 31 years – which is almost certainly correct. They couldn’t; they are far too large. Bobi was neither large, nor a working cattle dog. He lived with the Costa family, in ‘perfect communion with Nature’, eating healthy meals and enjoying life as a local celebrity in his latter years – something that no organisation, however well-known or highly-regarded, can ‘remove’ from him.
