Guinness World Records ‘no longer has the evidence’ that animal – 31 years and five months old when it died – was as old as claimed

Bobi the Portuguese mastiff stripped of record as world’s oldest ever dog

Guinness World Records ‘no longer has the evidence’ that animal – 31 years and five months old when it died – was as old as claimed Kim Willsher in Paris Thu 22 Feb 2024 07.40 EST Last modified on Thu 22 Feb 2024 08.32 EST

Every dog has its day, they say, but Bobi the Portuguese mastiff’s reign as the “world’s oldest” hound has proven short-lived.

The once record-breaking dog has been stripped of his title by Guinness World Records (GWR) after officials declared there was no proof he was as long in the tooth as his owners claimed.

In a statement, GWR said it had concluded it “no longer has the evidence it needs to support Bobi’s claim as the record holder”.

It was claimed that Bobi was 31 and five months – a dog’s life spanning about 220 canine years – when he died in October, eight months after GWR declared him the world’s oldest living dog and the oldest dog ever.

The previous record-holder was Bluey, an Australian cattle dog who died in 1939 aged 29 years and five months.

However, no sooner was Bobi crowned than questions were raised by veterinary experts over whether it was biologically possible for a dog to live that long. Online photographs of Bobi in 1999 suggested he had different coloured paws to the dog that died in Portugal last year.