As of: January 18, 2024, 6:03 p.m
By: Natascha Heidenreich
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It is easy to determine the age of trees.
But that doesn't help the Guinness Book of Records.
Those responsible want to verify the age of a record dog.
Conqueiros – With that age you can never really be sure these days.
Some 15-year-olds look 20. And some 20-year-olds look 15. When it comes to animals, things get even more complicated.
Neither dog nor cat years play a role in the Guinness Book of Records.
The benchmark is human years and the official record holder Bobi brought 31 of them with him.
The title was secured for the Rafeiro do Alentejon herding dog from Portugal.
He replaced the Australian cattle dog Bluey as the oldest documented dog at 29 years and five months.
He also held the title of oldest living dog until his death.
But now there are doubts about Bobi's true age.
The herding dog Bobi is said to be 31 years old.
© Jorge Jeronimo/dpa
Herding dogs like Bobi typically have a life expectancy of 12 to 14 years.
By the way, the oldest dog in the Heldra district of Wanfried is a bit older.
But back to Bobi: his death last October sparked global headlines.
After all, he was 31 years old.
In human years that is over 200 years.
But shortly after the death, the first suspicions and the first investigations followed.
A puppy in the picture with different colored paws: Isn't that Bobi?
As
The Guardian
reports, some keen observers had taken a closer look at pictures of Bobi on the Guinness World Records website.
What they found was that some of the pictures Bobi was supposed to show in 1999 showed a dog that had different colored paws.
How is that possible?
Veterinarians were called in for examinations.
They pointed out that Bobi's age was at least registered in the national pet database.
However, this entry should under no circumstances be used as a manslaughter argument.
After all, such entries would be based exclusively on the dog owners’ self-disclosure.
This is also confirmed by a study by the technology magazine
Wired,
which once asked more detailed questions.
Even biology reached its limits and a genetic test could not provide the desired level of certainty.
The test confirmed that Bobi was old, but not exactly how old.
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Formal review: Guinness Book of Records is investigating the case
The Guinness World Records team confirmed
that a "formal review" of the oldest dog registry is now underway, according to the
Guardian report.
The organization is in the process of examining evidence and consulting experts.
The record title has been suspended for now while the investigations continue.
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